Investigating the Aesthetic Components of Islamic Art Based on the Mystical Views of Mullah Mohsen Feiz Kashani and Abraham Maslow

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 Ph.D. Student of Persian Language and Literature, Islamic Azad University, Zahedan Branch;

2 Assistant Professor, Department of Persian Language and Literature, Islamic Azad University, Zahedan Branch;

3 Assistant Professor, Department of Persian Language and Literature, Islamic Azad University, Zahedan Branch, Iran;

10.22034/ias.2019.101559

Abstract

One of the fundamental changes that have taken place in the last two decades in the study and analysis of artworks, especially poetry, is the utilization of psychological knowledge gains. Among the many facets of this knowledge, the school of humanistic psychology is of particular importance because it describes positive human components and provides a superior model of humankind and its abilities. In fact, humanism sees humanity and self-awareness at the center and believes that individuals have the right to liberty, self-actualization, and moral behavior. In the meantime, Abraham Maslow, the most prominent figure in the school of humanism, made a profound change in this tendency with the theory of self-actualization. The mystical or spiritual experience is one of the fifteen components of his theory that are clearly seen in literary works that have such foundations. Reading the literary texts with regard to the component of peak experience reveals the hidden parts of the authors' intellectual level of work and deals with its neglected aspects. Mullah Moshsen Feiz Kashani is one of the prominent literary-mystical figures in Persian literature who has shown great interest in his works, especially the Divan of Poems to man and his needs. Reinterpreting his views based on Maslow's theory is effective in understanding the human model of Feiz Kashani. The results of the present study, written by a descriptive-analytical method, display such indicators as "unlimited horizons opening to the eyes", "intense ecstasy, transcendental and emotional astonishment", "sense of integrity and the unspeakable" and "tendency to poetry, mysticism and religion "have been similar in Maslow's subjects and the experiences explained by Feiz Kashani. Also, the manifestation of these characteristics in Islamic art has become prominent.

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