Interpretation of the symbol in Sufi poetic discourse: Models of Al-Hallaj’s poetry (306 AH)

Abstract

The Interpretive theory / approach constituted a new stage in the field of critical practice seeking to interrogate creative discourses, with the aim of interpreting their connotations and understanding their meanings, by restoring consideration to the reader by making him an essential element in the interpretive process, and relying on his effectiveness and participation in shaping and reproducing the meanings of the literary text, based on the linguistic symbols that constitute these Texts.
Sufi poetic discourse is among the discourses that have received attention from this interpretive approach. This is due to its unique linguistic nature, based on symbolism, suggestion, and semantic shift, and its inclusion within a special interactive communicative context.
Accordingly, this research paper seeks to approach Sufi poetic discourse in an interpretive approach, based on models of Al-Hallaj’s poetry. This interpretive approach derives its procedural tools from the interpretive mechanisms proposed by the critic Paul Ricoeur, attempting to form the connotations of Al-Hallaj’s Sufi poetic discourse and its symbolism, by dismantling its symbols and codes hidden behind the veil of language.