Arabic Literature

Manifestations of the Sufi coding of letters, numbers and shapes in the novels of the Moroccan writer Abd al elah Ben Arafa (Jabal Qaf, Bahr Noon, Bilad Sad as an example)

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

Jamal Talebi 1
Mohammad Kalashi 2
Mohammadmahdi Roshanchesli 3

1 Associate Professor Department of Teaching Arabic Language and literature, Farhangian University, Tehran, Iran.

2 Assistant Professor, Department of Teaching Arabic Language and literature, Farhangian University, Tehran, Iran.

3 Assistant Professor, Department of Arabic Language and Literature, Payam-e-Noor University, Tehran, Iran.

https://doi.org/10.22059/jalit.2024.382442.612870
Abstract
The novels of the Moroccan novelist Abd elah Ben Arafa are distinguished by the frequent symbolic use of letters, numbers and shapes. His novelistic experience is a luminous study of understanding the relationships between words and shapes and their corresponding numbers in the abjad system as Sufi philosophical symbols. In all of this, he is influenced by Muhyiddin Ibn Arabi in his book Al-Futuhat Al-Makkiyya according to his Sufi vision of the world. Among the twelve mystical novels that ibn Arafa has produced since the beginning of the third millennium, his trilogy, Jabal Qaf, Bahr Nun, and Bilad Sad, is distinguished by absorbing its intellectual reference from the Sufi heritage and its figures, especially Ibn Arabi, in the essence of human existence and the absolute divine self, and re-broadcasting it in a new narrative position, as it is full of letters, numbers, and shapes with mystical and Sufi connotations that come in continuous interaction with the previous idea. This study, with its descriptive and analytical approach, seeks to trace the symbolism of numbers, letters and shapes and decipher their codes according to the views of the Sufis, especially the idea of ​​Muhyiddin Ibn Arabi in the unity of being, which is considered the first influence on the thinking of Abd elah Ibn Arafa. The study concluded that the letters, shapes and numbers in Ibn Arafa’s trilogy have transcended their lexical meanings and the novelist has given them a spiritual glow that is consistent with the Sufi idea. Ibn Arafa quoted the titles of his three novels about the separate letters of the Qur’an to demonstrate the Sufi idea of ​​letters as a divine secret that aims to know and witness God. In his three novels, the novelist repeated some numbers such as seven, twelve, four, and forty in more than one narrative situation to correspond with the Qur’anic verses that speak about creation. He also repeated the shapes of the square and the circle many times to symbolize the four directions and the circular conception of existence from Ibn Arabi’s perspective

Keywords

Modern novel
mysticism and Sufism
symbol
Abd al - elah Ben Arafa
Jabal Qaf
Bahr Noon
Bilad Sad
Subjects

References

Ibn Khaldun, Abd al Rahman (2004), Introduction to Ibn Khaldun, 1st ed., edited by: Abdullah Mohammad Darwish, Beirut, Modern Library. [In Arabic].
Ibn Arabi, Muhyiddin (1990), Dictionary of Sufi Terminology, edited by: Bassam Abd al Wahhab Al-Jabi, Beirut, published by Dar Al-Imam Muslim. [In Arabic].
Ibn Arabi, Muhyiddin (1988), The Meccan Revelations, 1st ed., edited by: Mohammad Abd al-Rahman Marashli, Beirut, Dar Ihya al-Turath. [In Arabic].
Ibn Arafa, Abd al-elah (2010), Al-Hawamim, 1st ed., Arab Cultural Center of Casablanca. [In Arabic].
Ibn Arafa, Abd al-elah (no date), Bilad Sad, Beirut, Dar Al-Adab. [In Arabic].
Ibn Arafa, Abd al-elah (2002), Jabal Qaf, 1st ed., Rabat, al-najah al-jadideh. [In Arabic].
Ibn Arafa, Abd al-elah (2007), Bahr Noon or the Journey in Search of the Atlantic Island, Beirut, Dar Al-Aman. [In Arabic].
Asghari, Javad; Arab Yousef Abadi, Abd al- Basit; Bozorgnia, Siddiqa (1393) The semantic use of symbols in the play “Night Visitors” by Ali Uqla Ursan, Journal of Arabic Literature, Issue (1), pp. 1-23. [In Arabic].
Balawi, Rasoul; Khezri, Ali; Abad, Marzieh (1393) The motif of summoning traditional figures in the poetry of Yahya al-Samawi, Journal of Arabic Literature, Issue (1), pp. 51-70. [In Arabic].
Charles, Chad Wick (1992), Symbolism, translated by: Nasim Ibrahim Yousef, Egyptian General Book Authority. [In Arabic].
Al-Jurjani, al-sharif (1991), Definitions, edited by: Mohammad Abd al Karim Al-Qadi, Cairo, Dar Al-Kitab Al-Masri. [In Arabic].
Al-Hallaj, Al-Hosein ibn Mansour (1998), The Facts of Interpretation, compiled by: Mahmoud Al-Hindi, Cairo, Madbouly books stor. [In Arabic].
Schimmel, Anna Marie (2006), The Sufi Dimensions of Islam, translated by: Mohammad Ismail Al-Sayyid, Mohammad Reda Qutb, Al-Jamal Publications. [In Arabic].
Talebi gharagheshlaghi, Jamal; Aldjia Bouchayeb, Asma (2023), Mechanisms of Sufi narration and its manifestations in the novel Bahr Noon, Horizons of Islamic Civilization Magazine, Issue (1), pp. 161-184. [In Arabic].
Talebi gharagheshlaghi, Jamal (1443), Manifestations of the Mysticism of Place in the Novel of Jabal Qaf by Abd al-elah ibn Arafa in Light of the Views of Muhyiddin ibn Arabi, Journal of the Arabic Language and Literature, Issue (1), pp. 93-109. [In Arabic].
Ashou, Salima (2021), The Use of Gnosis in the Novel “Bilad Sad”, Scientific Horizons Magazine, Issue (1), pp. 381-400. [In Arabic].
Awad, Bashar (2002), Numerical Miracles between Permissives and Prohibitors, Master’s Thesis, Saddam University, College of Arabic Language and Qur’anic Sciences. [In Arabic].
Al-Fakhari, Mokhtar (no date), Excavations in Islamic Interpretation: A Study of the Islamic Fundamentalist Field of Sufi Interpretation, Irbid, Modern World Book. [In Arabic].
Al-Kashani, Abd al Razzaq (1995), The Subtleties of Notable Figures in the Signs of the People of Inspiration, edited by: Saeid Abd al Fattah, Cairo, Egyptian National Library. [In Arabic].
Nasr, Atef Jawdat (1978), The Poetic Symbol in Sufism, 1st ed., Beirut, Dar Al-Kindi. [In Arabic].
Mufti, Bashir (2004), The Burning of the Novel: Internal Illuminations, Culture Magazine, Ministry of Culture, Algeria, Issue (1). [In Arabic].
Al-Mousawi, Abbas Fadhel Abd allah (2019), Semiotics of the Title in the Mystical Novel: The Novels of Abd al-elah Ben Arafa as a Model, Al-Amid Magazine, Issue (35), pp. 139-174. [In Arabic].

  • Receive Date 16 September 2024
  • Revise Date 02 December 2024
  • Accept Date 21 December 2024

Home

Contact Us