| چکیده انگلیسی مقاله |
Skilled poets employ a range of linguistic and rhetorical techniques to persuasively engage their audience and harness the expressive power of language in artistic and literary ways. Effective writers strategically use various sentence types—interrogative, imperative, prohibitive, exclamatory, and emphatic—to bridge grammatical forms with semantic meaning and communicate complex ideas. For instance, rhetorical questions serve not only to convey meaning but also to broaden the interpretive scope of the text, allowing the poet to suggest multiple layers of intention and stimulate reflection in the reader. The dynamic interplay between speaker and audience is essential to achieving effective verbal communication. Rumi, a masterful poet and mystic, is renowned for using poetic composition to convey profound spiritual and didactic insights. In the Masnavi-ye Ma’navi, the frequent use of interrogative forms directed at the reader creates a continuous flow of thought, guiding the audience through layered philosophical and mystical concepts.
Introduction
The rhetorical functions of questioning, particularly those involving denial, play a crucial role in this work. This article explores the rhetorical theme of denial and its artistic implications, including eternal negation, exclusion, bowing, contempt, praise, rejection, despair, mockery, support, regret, and more. It emphasizes the significance of employing questioning techniques to generate aesthetic motivation, highlights the distinctiveness of “negation” in questioning, and offers a “prescription” for its use.
The spiritual Masnavi contains numerous rhetorical interrogative sentences, which can be broadly categorized into two groups. The second book of the Masnavi-ye Ma’navi primarily focuses on the first category: negative interrogative statements. Below, these interrogative sentences are listed in order of their frequency, each serving a unique rhetorical purpose:
Eternal negation: This interrogative form emphasizes the perpetual exclusion or denial of a subject.
Insult: A question that intentionally includes denial to embarrass or criticize the listener, another person, or a concept.
Exclusion: The speaker uses this type of interrogative to stress the improbability of a situation by posing a question that implies negation.
Disability statement: This form often involves expressing reverence and admiration for the subject or individual under discussion.
Ignorance: Refers to a state free from attachment or sensual cravings; the role of this interrogative is conceptual or virtual.
Hasr wa Qasr: This involves examining or attributing a unique characteristic to a specific attribute.
Despair and disappointment: The speaker expresses disillusionment or rejection of a subject explicitly through denial.
Tahweel and scare: A rhetorical style intended to frighten or intimidate the audience.
Facilitating and easy to say: This style highlights the relative simplicity of performing an action that may seem difficult for the audience.
Bragging: This form employs rhetorical questioning to emphasize the speaker’s pride and self-promotion regarding a topic, effectively conveying the essence of the argument.
This book may also include other subdivisions, such as those found in colloquial language. Molana’s primary objective in this didactic collection is clearly to advise and guide the audience, a goal he achieves through the strategic use of questions fulfilling various rhetorical roles.
Literature Review
Primary references on this subject include classical Arabic texts such as Miftah al-Uloom (Sakkaki, 1407: 350), Al-Aydhah (Qazvini, n.d.: 55), Motuwal (Taftazani, 1416: 237), Mughni al-Labib (Ansari, 1406: 26), and Khatshar al-Ma’ani. These seminal works provide a foundational basis for scholarly discussion, as highlighted by Irfan (1372: 320), which marks the beginning of an important chapter inviting academics to engage deeply with the vast knowledge of meanings derived from the miraculous source of the Holy Quran.
Persian rhetorical scholars have further developed this field by drawing upon these Arabic sources, while also integrating Qur’anic examples and the rhetorical richness found in vernacular language traditions. Among these influential works is Jawahar al-Balagha, a collection that encompasses key texts such as Mukhtasar al-Ma’ani, Muftah al-Uloom, Darr al-Adab, Hanjar-e-Giftar, Taraz-e-Sukhan, and Rite of Rhetoric, among others.
Research Methodology
This study employs an analytical-descriptive approach, relying primarily on library research as its methodology. The report offers a comprehensive analysis of the findings, including detailed statistics, the purpose behind each rhetorical method, and the classification of virtual meanings. Furthermore, it provides examples for each category and offers thorough explanations of the verses containing these rhetorical sentences.
The author strategically employs various rhetorical techniques throughout the presentation. Each section begins with a relevant passage from the Holy Quran that illustrates the targeted rhetorical style. This is followed by examples drawn from classical language resources as well as colloquial expressions to enhance clarity and relevance. Finally, the author presents a verse from the second book of Masnavi-ye Ma’navi that exemplifies the particular rhetorical form under discussion.
Discussion
Articles like this serve as valuable resources for students of Persian literature and others interested in the study of semantics. This article, in particular, focuses on the compositional effects of words within the field of semantics. Through detailed explanations, it aims to help readers understand why writers often express broader concepts than those typically encountered in conventional usage.
We anticipate that the author will continue to produce papers exploring the various rhetorical functions of compositional phrases, such as commands, restrictions, calls, and desires. Students interested in Persian literature now have an enhanced opportunity to appreciate the elegance of this field, along with the artistry of communication and originality. They are encouraged to engage deeply with the works of poets and writers who exhibit a distinctive approach to rhetoric and semantics.
For a comprehensive understanding of rhetorical connotations, it is advisable to analyze Quranic interrogatives, colloquial expressions, and the literary works of eloquent authors. Unfortunately, much of the existing literature on rhetorical sciences lacks a thorough and all-encompassing treatment of this important subject.
Conclusion
Rhetoricians widely recognize the concept of the "negative question," with its various artistic interpretations, as a crucial and frequently discussed topic. Its importance has prompted many writers to explore this subject extensively. Rumi’s style of expression, drawing on the language of the Holy Quran, effectively conveys mystical concepts to his readers through poetic composition. The foundational principle of the educational framework in the spiritual Masnavi is to guide the audience toward the recognition of ultimate truth and the negation of falsehoods, including the rejection of superficial or worldly attachments.
In the second book of the Masnavi, 59.5% of rhetorical questions are negative interrogatives. Among these, 66.4% serve the artistic function of "eternal negation." This high frequency reflects Rumi’s profound stance on the rejection of pleasure and transient desires. |