تناسبِ لفظ و معنا در تفسیرِ عرفانیِ قرآن و شعرِ حافظ

The Proportion of Word and Meaning in Mystical Qur’anic Exegesis and the Poetry of Hafez

Abstract

This study investigates the delicate balance between lafẓ (word) and maʿnā (meaning) within two interconnected domains of Islamic intellectual tradition: mystical Qur’anic exegesis and the poetry of Hafez. Mystical commentators—such as Qushayri, Sulami, Kashani, and Isfahani—developed a hermeneutic method that treated Qur’anic language as a multilayered system in which outward wording reveals and simultaneously conceals deeper spiritual realities. Their interpretive model emphasized proportionality: meaning is not separated from words, yet it is not confined to the literal register. Meanwhile, Hafez’s poetic discourse reflects a similar dynamic, where linguistic economy, symbolic density, and metaphorical precision produce meanings that exceed the textual surface. The research employs comparative linguistic and hermeneutic analysis to explore how both traditions negotiate the tension between literal and symbolic expression. In mystical tafsīr, key Qur’anic concepts—such as light, wine, veil, heart, and path—become spiritual metaphors through controlled shifts in semantic proportionality. In Hafez’s poetry, these same motifs are reconfigured within an aesthetic and experiential framework that expands their semantic fields while preserving an organic connection to Qur’anic precedent. By examining shared symbolic structures and interpretive strategies, the study argues that the balance of word and meaning in both traditions reveals a unified epistemological principle: language operates not as a fixed container but as a dynamic medium that mirrors the layered nature of reality. This interplay ultimately demonstrates how mystical hermeneutics and Persian poetic imagination co-create a rich semantic universe grounded in spiritual intuition and linguistic artistry.