A Structural Analysis of Types of Comparative Simile in Sa’dī's Ghazals

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 Assistant Professor, Department of Persian Language and Literature Education, Farhangian University, Tehran, Iran.

2 Assistant Professor, Department of Persian Language and Literature Education, Farhangian University, Tehran, Iran (Corresponding Author)

3 PhD graduate in Persian Language and Literature from the University of Kurdistan.

10.22075/jlrs.2024.35146.2515

Abstract

Comparative simile is one of the most important and hyperbolic types of simile, which not only revitalizes the simile but also adds many aesthetic dimensions to the expression. Despite its structural diversity, this type of simile has been narrowly defined in sources concerning rhetoric and the art of eloquence, limiting its structural range to a form where the tenor is first likened to the vehicle and then preferred over it. This oversight has occurred because rhetoricians have not paid attention to the diverse structures of this type of simile in their works. However, the structural range of comparative simile is unlimited and includes multiple and extensive forms. This study employs a library-based method to examine a selection of 254 Sa’dī's ghazals using the "Cochran" formula and a systematic random sampling method. Accordingly, in addition to redefining the comparative simile, various structural forms of comparative simile are extracted and introduced. In these 254 ghazals of Sa’dī, comparative simile appears in 315 verses out of a total of 2536 verses, in which 37 completely diverse and different structural patterns can be discerned. The high frequency and structural diversity of this simile indicate that comparative simile is one of the main pillars of Sa’dī's ghazals and one of the stylistic features of his poetry, encompassing approximately 12% of his verses. The variety and frequency of this type of simile in Sa’dī's ghazals indicates the pivotal role of comparative simile and its contribution in the portrayal of a unique unattainable and beloved in Saʿdī’s ghazals.

Keywords

References

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Journal Of Linguistic and Rhetorical Studies
Volume 16, Issue 41
In Progress
September 2025
Pages 287-332

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