Dialectic of Predestination and Free Will in Love: Investigating the Influence of Ash'ari Thought on Saadi's Love Poems

Subject Areas : Comparative Literature Studies

Seyyed Kazem Mofidi ¹ , Ali Fallah ² , safa taslimi ³ , Bahareh Fazli ⁴

1 - PhD Candidate of Persian Language and Literature, Gorgan Branch, Islamic Azad University, Gorgan, Iran
2 - Assistant Professor of Persian Language and Literature, Gorgan Branch, Islamic Azad University, Gorgan, Iran
3 - Assistant Professor, Faculty of Persian Language and Literature, Gorgan Azad University, Gorgan, Iran
4 - Assistant Professor of Persian Language and Literature, Farhangian University, Tehran, Iran

Received: 2023-06-23 Accepted : 2023-06-23 Published : 2023-08-23

Keywords: Saadi, determinism, Dialectics, Ash'arism,

Abstract :

Saadi grew up in the Ash'ari school, and the influence of Ash'ari words can be easily seen in Saadi's works. The influence of fate and fate on destiny, the influence of nature and essence on human actions, and the lack of influence of education on changing a person's moods and morals can be seen everywhere in Saadi's generalities. In addition to many themes of this kind, another common theme can be seen in Saadi's lyrical and love poems with the concept that love is an involuntary and irrational thing and one cannot resist love or make a choice. That is, the idea of predestination dominates Saadi's love poems, and the question arises as to whether this predestination originates from the words and education of Ash'ari, or is it simply a vehicle for creating a literary theme. With a more detailed examination of Saadi's generalities, using the analytical descriptive method, we come to the conclusion that the influence of Ash'ari's words on Saadi is not such that it made him fall into determinism; Saadi is a free and intellectual person and despite his contemporaries, he does not believe in absolute predestination; As a result, the theme of human helplessness in the world of love is simply an artistic theme and Saadi has used it to express the power of love.Keywords: Ash'arism, Determinism, Dialectics, Saadi.