Iranian Persian Language and Literature Promotion Society Research on Mystical Literature HTTPS://JP 13 1 2019 05 22 An Analysis of the Function of Rhetorical Elements (Imagination and Music) in the Poetic Prose of Tazkirat al-Awliyā by Attar Neishaburi An Analysis of the Function of Rhetorical Elements (Imagination and Music) in the Poetic Prose of Tazkirat al-Awliyā by Attar Neishaburi 111 138 24206 10.22108/jpll.2019.111847.1253 FA Zahra Pakzad Ph.D Student of Persian Language and Literature Razi University Fateme Kolahchian Assistant Professor of Persian Language and Literature Razi University Mohammad Irani Associate Professor of Persian Language and Literature Razi University Journal Article 2018 06 30 In the definitions of poetry, three elements of emotion, imagination, and music are discussed. Persian prose texts have always benefited more or less from poetic elements in different eras. In the meantime, given their themes and subjects, Sufi and Mystic works have tended toward more poetic characteristics so that understanding formal semantic subtleties and delicacies of these texts sometimes rested on the analysis of their images and musical influences. Based on this importance, the purpose of the present study is to examine the function of two main poetic elements, namely, imagination and music, of Tazkirat al-Awliyā, one of the most notable mystic prose, to determine its poetic level and quality. The findings of this descriptive-analytical study show that musical influence of this work is more evident and more diverse than imagination. Both elements have a decisive and important function in Attar's prose. Rhyme, pun, oxymoron, and alliteration are among the most prominent examples of inner and spiritual music in Tazkirat al-Awliya often expressed when introducing these topics: mentioning the names of Awliyā (saints of God) and describing their personality and character, explaining Tawheed (monotheism), self-knowledge, death, mystical death and survival, contrast between micro and macro concepts of existence, codes of conduct, self-criticism, and condemned world. Also, from imagery perspective, Attar more noticeably made use of simile, irony, paradox, symbol, personification, and allusion in introducing and describing characters, moods and conducts of mystics, and quoting them, as well as explaining their revelations and focusing on formal-semantic aspects of the mystics’ names. In the definitions of poetry, three elements of emotion, imagination, and music are discussed. Persian prose texts have always benefited more or less from poetic elements in different eras. In the meantime, given their themes and subjects, Sufi and Mystic works have tended toward more poetic characteristics so that understanding formal semantic subtleties and delicacies of these texts sometimes rested on the analysis of their images and musical influences. Based on this importance, the purpose of the present study is to examine the function of two main poetic elements, namely, imagination and music, of Tazkirat al-Awliyā, one of the most notable mystic prose, to determine its poetic level and quality. The findings of this descriptive-analytical study show that musical influence of this work is more evident and more diverse than imagination. Both elements have a decisive and important function in Attar's prose. Rhyme, pun, oxymoron, and alliteration are among the most prominent examples of inner and spiritual music in Tazkirat al-Awliya often expressed when introducing these topics: mentioning the names of Awliyā (saints of God) and describing their personality and character, explaining Tawheed (monotheism), self-knowledge, death, mystical death and survival, contrast between micro and macro concepts of existence, codes of conduct, self-criticism, and condemned world. Also, from imagery perspective, Attar more noticeably made use of simile, irony, paradox, symbol, personification, and allusion in introducing and describing characters, moods and conducts of mystics, and quoting them, as well as explaining their revelations and focusing on formal-semantic aspects of the mystics’ names. https://jpll.ui.ac.ir/article_24206_f031a03bb55266049d43d8ad18be0b17.pdf