Spektrum Iran

The theory of conceptual mixing and Ibn'Araby's mystical Reading of the story of Moses' staff

Document Type : Original Research Paper

Authors

Mehdi Bagheri 1
Ahad Faramarz Gharamaleki 2

1 Visiting scientist at the University of Bamberg, Germany; PhD student of Islamic Philosophy and Theology, Department of Islamic Philosophy and Theology, Faculty of Theology and Islamic Studies, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran.

2 Full Professor of Islamic Philosophy and Theology, Department of Islamic Philosophy and Theology, Faculty of Theology and Islamic Studies, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran.

https://doi.org/10.22034/spektrum.2022.182296
Abstract
This essay contributes to the explanation of how the Qur’anic image of
atheism emerges in IbnʿArabi’s symbolic interpretation. In The Bezels of
Wisdom (Fusus al-hikam), the transformation of Moses’ staff into the
serpent is viewed as the transformation of the atheism and rebellion
(ma’siya), into theism and obedience (ā’at). IbnʿArabī’s reading of the
discussed Qur’anic narrative, this essay suggests, achieves a particular
imagination and creativity through Conceptual Blending, a theory proposed
by Fauconnier and Turner. This essay follows a cognitive linguistic
approach, which would help understand how IbnʿArabi’s interpretation
connects the factual and religious elements in the blending as the only way
in which the complicated religious messagesand moral values emerge from
the patterns related to accessible human experiences in the natural world.

Keywords

conceptual blending theory
cognitive semantics
Qurʾanic narrative
moral values
IbnʿArabī

Subjects

Spektrum Iran
Volume 35, Issue 2
November 2022
Pages 1-16

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