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Online ISSN:
ISSN: 2821-2371
Research of Literary Texts in Iraqi Career
journal homepage: https://motounadabi.razi.ac.ir/
A Comparative Analysis of the Essence and Attributes of God in
Masnavi-e-Ma'navi and Dao-de-Jing
Ehsan Zanditalab 1 | Khalil Baygzade2 | Ebrahim Rahimi Zangeneh3
1. PhD student of Persian Language and Literature, Department of Persian Literature, Faculty of Literature and
Humanities, Razi University, Kermanshah, Iran. E-mail: e_zanditalab@yahoo.com
2. Corresponding author, Associate professor of Persian of Language and Literature, Department of Persian
Literature, Faculty of Literature and Humanities, Razi University, Kermanshah, Iran. E-mail:
kbaygzade@yahoo.com
3. Associate Professor of Persian of Language and Literature, Department of Persian Literature, Faculty of Literature
and Humanities, Razi University, Kermanshah, Iran. E-mail: Erahimi2009@yahoo.com
Article Info
ABSTRACT
Article type:
Research Article
The matter of explaining the essence and attributes of God in Islamic
mysticism has been influenced by Quranic tradition that is the criterion
based on which the mystics have categorized the essence, attributes,
and actions of God. Rumi, in Masnavi-e-Ma'navi, being referred to as
the most prominent mystical work in Persian language, has been
engaged with this subject with precision and delicacy, and, also, has
broached the unknown nature of God. Likewise, Laozi, the Chinese
sage, in Dao-de-jing, the most predominant text of the Dao tradition
that was written in the eighteen century before Masnavi-e-Ma'navi, has
raised major and delicate discussions on the unknowability of the
essence of Dao. Accordingly, the present paper is an attempt to
represent and investigate the findings concerning God's essence and
attributes in Masnavi-e-Ma'navi and Dao-de-jing. Furthermore, it also
aims at explaining the similarities and differences between them via
integrating the descriptive-analytical method. As depicted by the
results of the study, the true essence of God in Masnavi-e-Ma'navi and
that of Dao in Dao-de-jing is elusive and unknowable. However, God's
attributes in Masnavi-e-Ma'navi are more numerous than those of Dao
in Dao-de-jing. This is justifiable via the reference to nomenclature in
Islamic mysticism and mystical interpretations of God's names. Also,
even though, some attributes of Dao, such as profoundness, silence,
and formlessness, do not have known equivalents in Islamic
mysticism, they are used as attributes of God in Masnavi-e-Ma'navi.
Article history:
Received: 21 September 2023
Received in revised form:
17 October 2023
Accepted: 24 October
2023
Keywords:
God's essence and
attributes,
Rumi,
Masnavi-ye-Ma'navi,
Dao tradition,
Laozi,
Dao-de-jing.
Cite this article: Zanditalab, E., Baygzade, Kh., Rahimi Zangeneh, E. (2024). A Comparative Analysis of the
Essence and Attributes of God in Masnavi-e-Ma'navi and Dao-de-Jing. Research of Literary
Texts in Iraqi Career, 4 (4), 91-115.
© The Author(s). Publisher: Razi University
DOI: https://doi.org/10.22126/ltip.2023.9644.1196
Online ISSN:
ISSN: 2821-2371
Research of Literary Texts in Iraqi Career
journal homepage: https://motounadabi.razi.ac.ir/
Extended Abstract
Introduction:
The concepts of God’s essence and attributes are referred to as common terminologies in
Islamic philosophy and theology and have entered the field of mysticism and multiple examples
of such type have been manifested in many verses of "Masnavi-e Ma'navi", as a significant
work of Islamic mysticism. The formation of these terms dates back to Qur'an and Islamic
tradition and the emergence of various philosophical-theological movements. It may seem far-
fetched to evaluate the mystical grasp of Masnavi-e-Ma'navi on God's essence and attributes
with the understanding of "Laozi", the founder of Daoism. However, despite the approximate
time gap of eighteen centuries between the publication of Masnavi-e Ma'navi and that of Dao-
de-jing, and the different geographical conditions in which they were formed, as well as the
different cultural and intellectual environments of Rumi and Laozi, it is possible to perceive
their similar and sometimes identical epistemological approaches to the concepts of God’s
essence and attributes and show their common theological and ontological mindsets in
explaining and understanding these concepts.
Materials and Methods:
God's essence in Masnavi-ye-Ma'navi and Dao-de-jing
In alignment with the prophetic tradition (hadith), Rumi considers thinking about God's essence
as reprehensible and misleading, as there is no way to know God's essence. Not only is this not
a means of knowledge in this realm, but also an obstacle and a veil. The idea of comprehending
God's true essence is delusional, and any effort made with that ambition is to no avail. Rumi
believes the observable world is rendered on the foundation of contrast, and each thing is a door
to knowing other things, and basically, knowledge is the result of perceiving this contrast. Since
there is no contrast in God's essence, human intellect has no way of knowing it. Likewise, in
Laozi's mind, Dao is the best way of referring to a truth, and naming an essence that is totally
unpresentable and nameless. Otherwise, it would not be what he has in mind. He calls this
indescribable, unknowable truth Dao, due to the necessity of linguistic formation of the
problem, but he immediately states that because that truth is now expressed in the form of
words, it is no longer the truth before naming it.
Results and Discussion:
God's attributes in Masnavi-e Ma'navi and Dao-de-jing
With respect to Rumi's mindset, after the level of essence, without a reference to any hierarchy
in time and space, there lies the attributes and names of god, and the entire world and countless
creatures are the manifestation of God's infinite attributes. In the first hymn of Dao-de-jing,
Laozi establishes a theology based on the essence and attributes of Dao, which includes the
levels of the occult, the nameless (non-existent), the named (existent), and all beings in the
world. All of these levels, except for the occult level, lie within the realm of human reason,
Online ISSN:
ISSN: 2821-2371
Research of Literary Texts in Iraqi Career
journal homepage: https://motounadabi.razi.ac.ir/
knowledge, and inquiry. Also, the names of God in Islamic mysticism are divided into two
categories of positive and negative attributes. positive attributes include God's unquestionable
names, and negative attributes include names that God is free from.
1. Positive names
These names can be divided into three parts. The names of essence include: Lord (Rab), First
(awal) and Last (akhar), appearance (zaher) and substance (baten), great (azim), immortal
(baghi), and light (noor). The names of attributes include: merciful (rahim) and the agentive
names, creator (khaleq), lowerer (khafid), exalter (rafi), and hearkener (mujib).
In the category of the names of essence, although the name "deep", which is one of the
attributes of Dao, does not have a specific and well-known equivalent in Islamic mysticism, it is
used as the name of God in Masnavi-eMa'navi.
Leave the part and embrace the whole
These streams all stem from a deep ocean
2. negative names
Although it is possible to attribute some of God's positive names to human beings or other
creatures at a lower level, a number of negative attributes that indicate God's lack of some
attributes, are unique to God, and no human being shares them with God.
Names such as incorporeal, unborn, invisible, one-and-only, and faceless. In this category,
silence, which is one of the attributes of Dao, does not have a specific equivalent in Islamic
mysticism. However, it is used for God in the Masnavi-e Ma'navi.
God's appeal, with no cause and effect hundred words he say, with no lips and mouth.
Conclusion:
The assessment of the concepts of God's essence and attributes in Masnavi-e Ma'navi and Dao-
de-jing shows that Rumi and Laozi, despite their great distance in time and space and the sharp
differences that existed in the intellectual and spiritual traditions of their time, had nearly
similar approaches to these concepts, and established more or less the same theological
foundations. Also, the unknowability of God and Dao's essence is emphasized in both works by
suggesting that there is no opposition and contrast in their essence; however, in the field of
positive attributes, we see names in Masnavi-e Ma'navi that have no equivalent in Dao-de-jing.
It seems that one of the causes of this discrepancy is the importance and breadth of the
nomenclature and the inexhaustibility of God's names in Islamic mysticism and Masnavi-e
Ma'navi; a topic that is not so prominent, at least to that extent, in Dao-de-jing.
What confirms this conjecture is, in addition to the quantity, the quality of nouns, which
includes all three types of proper noun, attribute, and agentive, has no equivalent. Another issue
that compounds this dispute is the contemplation of Islamic thinkers on the subject of names
and attributes, which has provided the basis for various interpretations and has added to the
complexity of identifying these names, which sometimes have similar meanings. It is also worth
mentioning that, even though not all of it is dedicated to the discussion of God's essence and
attributes, the sheer volume of Masnavi-ye-Ma'navi, compared with the very compressed text of
Dao-de-jing, has provided Rumi with more opportunities to discuss this topic. However, it
should be made clear that many of the important and fundamental names and attributes of God
Online ISSN:
ISSN: 2821-2371
Research of Literary Texts in Iraqi Career
journal homepage: https://motounadabi.razi.ac.ir/
in the Masnavi-ye-Ma'navi have similar or identical equivalents in Dao-de-jin, that is
sometimes surprising.
Keywords: God's essence and attributes, Rumi, Masnavi-ye-Ma'navi, Dao tradition, Laozi, Dao-de-jing.
https://motounadabi.razi.ac.ir/
ISSN: 2821-2371
|
|
e_zanditalab@yahoo.com
2 . kbaygzade@yahoo.com
3 .
Erahimi2009@yahoo.com
©
DOI: https://doi.org/10.22126/ltip.2023.9644.1196
(Dao De Jing)
wu ming
ming
(yi
yu ming
chiao
miao
(da
.
chang
ming
tzu
wei
yi
hsi
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