Recognizing and Analyzing the Conceptual Metaphor of “Time” in the Masnavi Ma'navi

Document Type : Rhetoric

Authors

1 Assistant Professor of Persian Language and Literature, Faculty of Literature and Humanities, University of Payam Noor, Tehran, Iran.

2 Assistant Professor of Persian Language and Literature, Faculty of Literature and Humanities, University of Salman Farsi, Kazerun, Iran.

10.22091/jls.2026.13939.1738

Abstract

The concept of time is one of the most fundamental concepts in the human mind, thought, and language, which has long been expressed metaphorically in speech and writing and conceptualized in the form of objects and places; a method that recent linguists have called "conceptual metaphor." In this study, the concept of "time" in the Masnavi Manavi has been examined based on the linguistic theory of conceptual metaphor by Lakoff and Johnson. The main goal of the study is to examine the process of conceptualizing the abstract discussion of time in the Masnavi. Ontological metaphors embody abstract concepts such as "time" as an entity or a tangible being, and humans discuss and argue about those concepts in this way. The results of the research show that the concept of time in the Masnavi is presented as a "conceptual scheme of "place", "object" and "person" with the structure and method that "time is place" and "time is object (fixed and moving)", and also the animism of time is one of the most frequent concepts of this type of conceptual metaphor. With the help of metaphors of this kind, Rumi has used the fundamental concept of time for mystical and intellectual allegories in order to better explain and understand important mystical and philosophical issues.
Introduction
The oldest reference to time can be found in mythology. “In Vedic mythology, Shiva is infinite time that has neither beginning nor end.” In ancient Greece, there was also a god who was called “time”; Kronos was the supreme ancestor of all gods, and since his name meant time, he was personified with a sickle and an hourglass. In addition to mythology, Greek philosophers also paid attention to time. Plato considered time to be one of the manifestations of order in the universe and a necessary condition for the action of the Creator (Yousef Rad, 2003: 22 and 24).
In ancient Iran, traces of time can also be seen. “Zarvan is the name of one of the ancient gods who was the god of time in Pahlavi writings and appeared as the only god in the Middle Ages” (Kaviani & Pilevaran, 2016: 133). In contemporary times, the complex and abstract concept of time has been examined from another perspective, namely in the form of conceptual metaphor; since time is a subjective and abstract concept, it is depicted through metaphor with objective concepts such as place and object.
This article seeks to examine how the abstract discussion of time is conceptualized in the spiritual Masnavi.
Materials & Methods
This research is theory-based and has been conducted in a descriptive-analytical manner using library tools and studies. Accordingly, time was studied and notes were taken in all six volumes of the Masnavi of Maulana Jalaluddin Mohammad Balkhi, then it was classified, discussed, and reviewed based on Lakoff and Johnson's conceptual metaphor theory.
Research findings
According to the theory of conceptual metaphor, the abstract concept of time in Rumi's poems in the Mathnawi is concrete and embodied in the following three concepts:
1 Time is an object: a moving object versus a fixed observer/a fixed object versus a moving observer;
(objectification of time)
2 Time is a place: (containerization of time)
3 Time is an animate: (animization of time)
Discussion of Results & Conclusion
The objectification of time as a fixed or moving object in contrast to a fixed or moving observer is the most frequently used concept of time abstraction in the Masnavi. In the Masnavi, sometimes time comes from the future towards the observer as an object or a moving entity, and the fixed observer is its observer; sometimes time is assumed to be a fixed object or place that is the moving observer. In a few cases Rumi uses time and observer together as fixed or moving; sometimes time is an object and commodity that can be transported, moved, taken, and presented. The spatiality of time is sometimes depicted in a way that the observer travels or worships. Sometimes time is a fixed place or object in the future that is the observer in the direction of movement.
The animism of abstract concepts is another type of ontological metaphor. Spring, as a unit of time, brings with it the sign of truth (God) with its arrival. Summer is assumed to be a human being who speaks to nature, greenery, etc. Rumi sometimes considers the night as a king whose arrival causes the stars to perform their duties as his agents; night is thought of as a thief who steals the spiritual capital of heedless humans. The time unit of the month (season) is assumed to be a human being, one of whom steps out of the world and another follows him and takes his place. Autumn is also assumed to be a gardener who destroys the barren garden.
This research revealed that centuries ago in the spiritual Masnavi, the abstract concept of time was conceptualized in an objective and tangible way with phrases such as object, place, and animism.
 
 

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References

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Rhetoric and Grammar Studies
Volume 15, Issue 28
January 2025
Pages 140-161

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