A survey of the symbols in the sonnets of Rumi

Symbol in Persian mystical literature has commonly used. Because the mystics have experiences in his spiritual worlds that it is difficult to express in ordinary daily language and they require symbolic expression. Maulana, the greatest mystical poet of Iran, in his works, especially in his sonnets has used widely symbolic expression to represent mystical concepts. In this research at first we provide definitions of symbol, and then we will look at a number of frequently used symbols, along with presentation of poetic evidence in Divan-e Shams-e Tabrizi. Usage of symbols in Rumi’s lyrics is so extensive; in fact many terms and words in Shams sonnet is known as the symbol but most people cannot find out the extensive and deep meaning of it.