Intertextual Analysis of Surah Yusuf in Rumi’s Ghazals Using Spokesdream Theory

Introduction

The concept of “Persian Qur’an” as a sacred hypertext reveals a profound connection between Persian mystical tradition and Qur’anic revelation. This connection, initiated through Iranian efforts in translating and interpreting the Qur’an, reached its literary zenith in works such as Rumi’s Masnaviye Ma’navi and Divan-e Kabir. (Fotouhi, 1403/2024: 22) Shamse Tabrizi’s reference to his own discourse as “Persian Qur’an” provided a foundational inspiration for Rumi to rearticulate the revelatory experience in a poetic and mystical language. (Shamse Tabrizi, 1402/2023: 93) Surah Yusuf, known as “Ahsan al-Qasas” (Yusuf: 3), conveys themes such as patience, divine trial, and mercy through symbolic imagery like the well, the shirt, and the dream. By employing sensory elements (color, rhythm, dialogue, and movement), this surah interweaves narrative with rhetorical artistry and visual imagination, profoundly impacting both believers and nonbelievers. (Sayyid Qutb, 1403/2024: 27) Within the framework of the “articulate dream” theory, the Qur’an’s aesthetic structure is interpreted as a process of imaginatively transforming divine truths into sensory images and poetic language. an innovative approach that reimagines the Qur’an not only as a book of sacred law but also as a literary, visionary, and experiential text.
Rumi, inspired by Shams-e Tabrizi, transforms mystical language into a medium for recreating the revelatory experience. In Divan-e Kabirand Masnavi-ye Ma’navi, particularly through allusions to Surah Yusuf, Rumi constructs a system of images, symbols, and sounds that signifies the interplay of language, imagination, and revelation. Islamic philosophers, such as Ibn Sina, view revelation as imaginative forms arising from connection with the Active Intellect (Ibn Sina, 1375/1996: Vol. 3, 411), considering the faculty of imagination a tool for rendering abstract concepts tangible. The articulated dream theory, unlike rationalist perspectives or the prophetic dream theory, posits the Prophet as a conduit of revelation, emphasizing the Qur’an’s rhetorical, symbolic, and cosmological structure. From this perspective, religious language possesses a dreamlike and imaginative quality, with Surah Yusuf offering a model of artistic sacred experience through its narrative, symbolic, and musical elements. This study, drawing on the articulate dream theory and intertextual analysis, examines the revelatory experience of Surah Yusuf in ghazals 16 and 189 of Rumi’s Divan-e Kabirto demonstrate how Rumi, using Qur’anic imaginative forms, music, and intertextuality, transforms the revelatory experience of Surah Yusuf into an intuitive and poetic language.
 
 

Methodology

This research employs a qualitative approach with a descriptive analytical method. The primary data consist of the text of Surah Yusuf and two selected ghazals (16 and 189) from Rumi’s Divan-e Kabir. The theoretical framework is grounded in the articulate dream theory, which emphasizes five principles (divine truth, sensory image, sensory perception, spiritual intuition, poetic expression), transforming metaphysical concepts of revelation into sensory images and rhetorical language (Ibn Arabi, 2012: 480). This framework is complemented by Julia Kristeva’s theory of intertextuality (2003: 66) and Henry Corbin’s perspectives on creative imagination (2022:75). Intertextuality, particularly allusion, serves as the primary tool for analyzing semantic and structural connections between the Qur’an and Rumi’s poetry (Namvar Motlagh, 2021: 60).
Data were purposively selected based on content criteria (reflection of revelatory themes and Qur’anic symbols). Data analysis was conducted on three levels: 1) imagistic: examining symbols and metaphors; 2) structural: analyzing meter, music, and rhetoric; 3) intertextual: comparing semantic and narrative similarities with the Qur’an. Despite the limited sample size, the multilayered analytical approach enhances interpretive depth and applicability, providing nuanced insights into the multisensory and symbolic recreation of the revelatory experience in Rumi’s mystical poetry.
 
 

Discussion

Surah Yusuf conveys metaphysical and theological truths through a complex interplay of symbolic imagery, sensory narrative, and rhetorical artistry. It employs narrative devices such as symbolic spaces (the well), emotive objects (the shirt), and revelatory dreams to transform divine truths into a multisensory textual experience (Sayyid Qutb, 2024: 247). Rumi, inspired by the Qur’an’s narrative style and Shams-e Tabrizi’s teachings, reconstructs its revelatory language in his mystical poetry. Drawing on the articulated dream theory, which emphasizes the role of imagination in transforming transcendent truths into symbolic language. this study demonstrates how Rumi’s ghazals 16 and 189 interact with the semiotic and aesthetic structures of Surah Yusuf.
Ghazal 16 highlights the pain of separation and longing through images of the well’s darkness and Jacob’s blindness, while ghazal 189 expresses the language of union and joy through symbols like the scent of Yusuf, the throne, and the shirt, poetically and symbolically embodying annihilation and divine union. From a comparative perspective, the structural and imagistic similarities between the Qur’anic narrative and Rumi’s poetry extend beyond superficial allusions. The cyclical meter, rhetorical repetitions such as ‘come’ and ‘dance,’ and syntactic brevity create a musical and rhythmic quality that aligns with eloquent and emotive expression. Semiotic analysis reveals that elements like the ‘“well’ and “dream” hold symbolic functions in the Qur’an, which Rumi reproduces with mystical and epistemological connotations.
The dream plays a pivotal role in meaning-making in both texts. In the Qur’an, Yusuf’s dream (Yusuf: 4) serves as a prelude to the narrative and revelatory truth; in Rumi’s poetry, it is a tool for spiritual intuition and inner experience of truth. Similarly, the well in the Qur’an represents a site of trial and emotional wound (Yusuf: 15), while in Rumi’s ghazals, it symbolizes mystical descent and the onset of spiritual transformation. According to the articulated dream theory, the dream is not a mental illusion but a sacred medium for revealing divine knowledge in imagistic form. Thus, Rumi’s ghazals are not mere intertextual adaptations of the Qur’an but dynamic representations of the revelatory experience through the symbolic and multilayered language of Persian mystical poetry. Rumi’s poetry serves as an extension of the Qur’an’s imaginative framework, transforming revelation into a message for reception and a visionary reality for recreating the prophetic experience through language.
 
 

Conclusion

The comparative analysis of ghazals 16 and 189 from Rumi’s Divane Kabir reveals two complementary dimensions of mystical experience, separation and union through dynamic imagery (spring, dance, Yusuf) in ghazal 189 and static imagery (pitch, blindness) in ghazal 16. These poetic structures mirror the narrative cycle of Surah Yusuf, oscillating between trial and mercy. Within the five-stage model of the articulate dream theory (divine truth, tangible image, sensory perception, intuition, poetic expression), revelation is not merely a verbal transmission but a transition from a transcendent truth to sensory manifestation and poetic articulation. Rumi’s poetry serves as a secondary revelation or renewed manifestation of meaning, employing tools such as allusion, metaphor, repetition, meter, and musical resonance to reproduce the revelatory experience. Ghazal 16 represents the axis of separation, suffering, and patient endurance, while ghazal 189 symbolizes union, mercy, and the radiant manifestation of truth. This semantic cycle aligns with the structure of Surah Yusuf, which begins with a dream and culminates in union and the restoration of the father’s sight. This recreation reproduces the sacred experience through imaginative, intuitive, and musical language, guiding the audience from words to vision and from vision to truth.
The novelty of this research lies in: 1) employing the articulated dream framework for an interdisciplinary analysis of the connection between poetry and revelation; 2) analyzing the rhetorical, imagistic, and musical structures of Rumi’s ghazals through Qur’anic intertextuality; 3) redefining the relationship between imagination and revelation in mystical literature; and 4) demonstrating the capacity of poetic language to transform the revelatory experience into a multisensory and intuitive expression. Research suggestions include: 1) exploring the application of the articulate dream theory to Masnavi-ye Ma’navior works by poets such as Hafez, Attar, and Sanai; 2) expanding comparative studies between revelatory structures in the Qur’an and other religious texts, such as the Torah, Gospel, and Upanishads; and 3) evaluating the musical and emotional effects of prosodic meters on recreating the revelatory experience in Persian poetry and other literary traditions.