Iranian Persian Language and Literature Promotion Society Research on Mystical Literature HTTPS://JP 5 2 2011 07 23 Identity on the basis of Molavi’s Snake-Charmer Story Identity on the basis of Molavi’s Snake-Charmer Story 165 186 16339 FA Abolghasem Fatehi Assistant Professor of Sociology, Allameh Tabatabaee University Ebrahim Ekhlasi PhD student of Sociology, University of Tehran Journal Article 2016 06 14 The knowledge of man’s real identity is supposed to be a complicated or even an impossible task. The main purpose of this descriptive-analytical article, done by library method, is to provide a comparative analysis of some aspects of “identity” in the views of Molavi and sociologists on the basis of his snake-charmer story presented in <em>Mathnavi</em>. The main question is ”what are the similarities and differences of Molavi’s viewpoint and those of modern sociologists with respect to the concept of identity?”. The theoretical findings of the article show that most of the sociologists perceive "identity" as a relative concept formed from the interactions of some environmental and social variables such as social class, ethnicity, nationality and so on with each other and man's psychological aspects as well. Furthermore, most of sociologists decline any independent substantial entity for identity. Conversely, Molavi considers essence and transcendental truth as the principal components of identity which lie potentially in human. He interprets identity as returning to man's basic humanity equal to High God's recognition and finding his original position in the universe.  On the basis of Molavi’s viewpoint, the concept of identity cannot be merely depicted through sociologists' popular categories such as personal identity, national identity, social identity and so on. Both Molavi and sociologists regarding the historical-cultural conditions of their own time, consider the alienated form of society and persons through the application of various literary symbols. Molavi applied symbols such as worm, dragon, snake etc while modern sociologists present the alienated forms of society and its actors via utilization of expressions such as loneliness, disappointment, depression, isolation, anomie and disgust.   The knowledge of man’s real identity is supposed to be a complicated or even an impossible task. The main purpose of this descriptive-analytical article, done by library method, is to provide a comparative analysis of some aspects of “identity” in the views of Molavi and sociologists on the basis of his snake-charmer story presented in <em>Mathnavi</em>. The main question is ”what are the similarities and differences of Molavi’s viewpoint and those of modern sociologists with respect to the concept of identity?”. The theoretical findings of the article show that most of the sociologists perceive "identity" as a relative concept formed from the interactions of some environmental and social variables such as social class, ethnicity, nationality and so on with each other and man's psychological aspects as well. Furthermore, most of sociologists decline any independent substantial entity for identity. Conversely, Molavi considers essence and transcendental truth as the principal components of identity which lie potentially in human. He interprets identity as returning to man's basic humanity equal to High God's recognition and finding his original position in the universe.  On the basis of Molavi’s viewpoint, the concept of identity cannot be merely depicted through sociologists' popular categories such as personal identity, national identity, social identity and so on. Both Molavi and sociologists regarding the historical-cultural conditions of their own time, consider the alienated form of society and persons through the application of various literary symbols. Molavi applied symbols such as worm, dragon, snake etc while modern sociologists present the alienated forms of society and its actors via utilization of expressions such as loneliness, disappointment, depression, isolation, anomie and disgust.   https://jpll.ui.ac.ir/article_16339_699cff3a36a38d7159eefd5b7e67c1cd.pdf