A Conceptual Metaphor Analysis of “Science” and “Reason” in the Mystical Poetry of Allameh Hassan Zadeh Amoli

In the cognitive science of language, metaphor is not merely seen as an aesthetic ornament; it functions as an instrumental cognitive device by which abstract conceptual domains are apprehended through grounding in more concrete, perceptible areas. Consequently, examining a text’s metaphors can illuminate intratextual relations and the meanings the author intends to convey. Mystical poetry often employs enigmatic language, and metaphor analysis provides a pathway to decipher underlying concepts. This study investigates the figurative representation of two concepts—Science (علم) and Reason (عقل)—in the poetry of Allama Hasan-zadeh Amoli (RA). Adopting a descriptive–analytical approach, data collection was conducted through library methods. Specifically, the entire Diwan of the eminent poet, comprising over five thousand couplets, was examined. Verses in which Science and Reason occur were selected and analyzed within the framework of Lakoff and Johnson’s theory of conceptual metaphor (2003). The results indicate that the concept of Science, expressed through metaphors such as “science is light” and “science is water,” exhibits the greatest frequency and is construed as both a guiding and vital principle. By contrast, metaphors of Reason are more closely associated with notions of “guidance,” usefulness, and perplexity, suggesting that, in the poet’s view, reason is a decisive, enabling concept that, on its own, remains insufficient without guidance.
Introduction
In traditional scholarship, metaphor was primarily understood as a rhetorical ornament, until Lakoff and Johnson, in the late twentieth century, introduced a radically new perspective on the nature of metaphor. Their theory of conceptual metaphor, a foundational framework within cognitive linguistics, was first articulated in Metaphors We Live By (1980) and subsequently refined in their later works. This theoretical paradigm has exerted significant influence not only on cognitive linguistics but also on various cognitive and social sciences, including cognitive psychology and anthropology. From the cognitive-linguistic standpoint, metaphor entails understanding one conceptual domain through the structure of another; its essence lies in grasping an experience in terms of a different, often more concrete, experiential domain (Lakoff & Johnson 2003: 84).
Within this framework, metaphor extends far beyond lexical or syntactic expressions and is therefore not restricted to literary embellishment. Rather, it constitutes a cognitive and linguistic process through which cultural models are shaped in the mind, enabling human beings to conceptualize and comprehend phenomena. The core function of conceptual metaphor is thus to render abstract notions tangible and intelligible. Conceptual metaphors accomplish this by systematically mapping elements from a concrete, embodied source domain onto an abstract target domain. Cognitive linguists maintain that metaphor is not confined to language; it permeates human thought and action. Lakoff and Johnson (2003) classify conceptual metaphors into three major categories: orientational, ontological, and structural. Orientational metaphors structure concepts via spatial orientations such as up–down or near–far. Ontological metaphors arise from human experience with physical objects and entities and are further divided into entity and substance metaphors, container metaphors, and personification metaphors. Ontological metaphors, compared to structural ones, impose a less elaborate cognitive organization on the target domain. Structural metaphors, in contrast, allow speakers to understand a target concept A by importing the elaborate structure of a source concept B.
In the fields of religion and mysticism, metaphor plays an indispensable role in articulating abstract concepts such as faith, death, or the soul. Tillich (1375/1996: 39) argues that the repeated use of metaphor in Eastern philosophy and mysticism acquires epistemic and cognitive functions, such that even poetic, narrative, and allegorical articulations of mystical experience depend crucially on metaphorical structuring. Thus, analyzing metaphors employed in religious and mystical texts enables scholars to discern authors’ conceptualizations of intangible notions and to extract interpretive principles grounded in these conceptual patterns.
Among the abstract notions central to mystical discourse is elm, which appears in two opposed senses: discursive, learned knowledge versus divinely infused knowledge (elm ladunni). A second key concept is reason (ʿaql), to which mystics attribute multiple ranks and functions, believing that through spiritual progression the human being ascends to higher degrees of rational and ontological realization. Allameh Hassan Zadeh Amoli, a preeminent contemporary mystic, devoted considerable attention to these two concepts in his works. The present study analyzes the conceptual metaphors of elm and reason in his poetry within the theoretical framework of cognitive linguistics, seeking to answer the following questions:
First: Through which metaphors is elm conceptualized in the poetry of Allameh Hassan Zadeh Amoli?
Secound: Through which metaphors is reason conceptualized in his poetry?
Materials and Methods
This study adopts a descriptive–analytical methodology and relies on library-based data collection. The units of analysis consist of couplets referencing elm, reason, or semantically related expressions. The data were extracted from the Diwan of Allameh Hassan Zadeh Amoli, compiled by Seyyed Saeed Hashemi and published by Alef-Lam-Mim Press, containing more than five thousand verses. The entire corpus was first examined in full, after which verses containing metaphors pertinent to the two conceptual domains were selected for detailed analysis.
A substantial body of scholarship has examined conceptual metaphors from a cognitive-linguistic perspective. Among these, Mobaraki et al. (2023) investigated conceptual metaphors of presential knowledge (elm ḥuzuri) in Ibn Sīnā’s thought, identifying two dominant metaphors: “presential elm is seeing” and “presential elm is light.” In the metaphor of seeing, three elements—the viewer, the viewed object, and the relational act of perception—are central; in the metaphor of light, the illuminating source and the illuminated object form the primary structure. Because elm constitutes one of the core variables of the present study, these findings bear direct relevance to its analytical considerations.
Another significant contribution is the study by Karimi Noughipour et al. (2020), which examined metaphors of reason in Islamic narrations. They concluded that the most salient metaphorical source domains for reason include light and illumination, wealth and capital, self-sufficiency, generosity, blessing, beauty and adornment, guidance, authority, cultivation, healing, friendship, and relief. These metaphors, emerging from the interaction of source and target image schemas, enhance cognitive plausibility and facilitate the effective communication of doctrinal teachings. Since their work treats reason explicitly as a conceptual variable, its insights inform the comparative dimension of the present research.
 
Research Findings
The findings reveal that ontological metaphors of substance play a predominant role in the conceptualization of elm in Amoli’s poetry. Here, elm is depicted as a vital substance necessary for human life and survival, mapped onto domains such as water, nourishment, and medicine. Light, understood universally as an agent of illumination and guidance, also serves as a major source domain for elm. Additionally, through personification metaphors, elm is portrayed as a human-like entity limited in its ability to traverse the spiritual path, incapable of attaining the destination unaided—thus standing in contrast to love. Amoli situates reason on a higher plane than elm. Consequently, substance metaphors are absent from its metaphorical structuring, while personification metaphors appear with remarkable frequency.
Discussion of Results and conclusion
In response to the first research question, the analysis indicates that the poet’s notion of constructive, life-giving, and illuminating elm is not discursive or acquired knowledge. He explicitly distinguishes between formal, scholastic knowledge and intuitive, divinely bestowed elm. The former, in his view, can mislead, whereas the latter constitutes a profound and weighty responsibility borne only by individuals of great spiritual capacity. These findings resonate with those of Mobaraki et al. (2023), who argue that Ibn Sīnā conceptualizes presential elm through metaphors of sight and light, contrasting it with mere intellectual abstraction. Thus, for both thinkers, elm is metaphorically framed as a radiant and guiding light.
Regarding the second research question, the analysis suggests that in Amoli’s poetry, Reason is depicted as a figure whose positive attributes outweigh its limitations. These results partially align with Karimi Noughipour et al. (2020), who similarly note that reason is conceptualized as an illuminating agent. For Ibn Sīnā, the enlightening capacity of elm depends on reason; whereas for Allameh Hassan Zadeh Amoli, the cosmos is guided along its existential journey through the dual lights of reason and love.