Comparing the Views of Muhammad and Ahmad Ghazali on the Nature and Characteristics of Language

Document Type : Original Research

Authors
mostafa mirdar rezaei 1
Farzad Baloo 2
1 Assistant Professor, Department of Persian Language and Literature, Faculty of Literature and Humanities, University of Guilan, Rasht, Iran
2 Associate Professor, Department of Persian Language and Literature, Faculty of Persian Literature and Foreign Languages, University of Mazandaran, Babolsar, Iran.
10.2634/Lire.22.90.139
Abstract
Muhammad and Ahmad Ghazali, two prominent Iranian thinkers of the sixth century, have thought-provoking views on the nature and characteristics of language. The present essay, written in a descriptive-analytical manner and with a phenomenological approach, examines and compares the views of these two brothers in the field of the nature and characteristics of language and tries to answer these two questions:Give that: 1- What are the similarities and differences between the opinions of the two brothers in the discussion of language opinions, especially "the nature of language"? 2- What approach does each of the Ghazalians use to explain the concept of language? The results of this study show that the examination of the concept of "what is language" is tied to the category of "heart" both in the eyes of Muhammad and in the eyes of Ahmad Ghazali; In other words, "heart" is the common point of two points of view. In the process of examining "language in the general sense", the opinion of both thinkers converges in reaching the area of ​​"silence". But in the discussion of "language in a special sense", Mohammad Ghazali has a linguistic approach in the design and description of linguistic concepts and terms; That is, like a linguist, he examines language as an object. While Ahmad Ghazali's encounter with language is an existential encounter, and it is as if language is truly the house of existence for him.
Keywords
Language in the Words of Muhammad Ghazali
Language in the Words of Ahmad Ghazali
The Nature of Language
Characteristics of Mystical Language.
Subjects
(In Persian)
Attar of Nishapur. (2005). Tadhkirat al-Awliya (Memorial of the Saints); Edited, Explained, and Indexed by Mohammad Estelami; 15th ed.; Tehran: Zavar.
Ansari, Khajeh Abdullah. (2006). Comprehensive Treatises of Khajeh Abdullah Ansari; Edited by Vahid Dastgerdi, Introduction and Commentary by Sultan Hossein Tabandeh Gonabadi; Tehran: Foroughi Bookstore.
Dehnavi; Tehran: Rouzegar.
Wittgenstein, Ludwig. (2001). Philosophical Investigations; Translated by Fereydoun Fatemi; Tehran: Markaz.
Dehkhoda, Ali-Akbar. (1998). Dehkhoda Dictionary; Under supervision of Mohammad Moin and Seyyed Jafar Shahidi; 15 Vols.; 2nd ed.; Tehran: University of Tehran Press.
Heidegger, Martin. (1998). Being and Time; Translated by Abdolkarim Rashidian; Tehran: Ney.
Hujwiri, Ali ibn Uthman. (2004). Kashf al-Mahjub (Unveiling the Veiled); Edited by Zhukovsky, with introduction by Ghasem Ansari; Tehran: Tohuri.
Hosseini, Maryam. (2005). “Female Narration in Female Fiction Writing”; The Book of the Month (Literature and Philosophy); Vol. 93: 90-101.
Ibn Arabi, Muhammad ibn Ali (n.d.); Al-Futūḥāt al-Makkiyya (Vols. 1 & 2); Beirut: Dar Sadir.
Ghazali, Ahmad. (1997). Collection of Persian Works of Ahmad Ghazali; Edited by Ahmad Mojahed; Tehran: University of Tehran Publications and Printing Institute.
Ghazali, Abu Hamid Imam Muhammad ibn Muhammad. (1973). Iḥyāʼ ʻulūm al-dīn (The Revival of the Religious Sciences), Vols. 2 & 3; Translated by Mo’ayyed al-Din Mohammad Khwarizmi; Edited by Hossein Khadiv Jam; Tehran: Bonyad-e Farhang-e Iran Publications.
------------. (1981). Jawāhir al-Qurʼān (Jewels of the Quran); Edited by Hossein Khadiv Jam; 2nd ed.; Tehran: Bonyad-e Olum-e Ensani.
------------. (2008). Kīmiyā-yi Saʻādat (The Alchemy of Happiness); Edited by Hossein Khadiv Jam; 14th ed.; Tehran: Scientific and Cultural Publications Company.
------------. (1994). Majmūʻat Rasāʼil al-Imām Muḥammad al-Ghazālī (Collection of Treatises of Imam Muhammad al-Ghazali); Beirut: Dar al-Kutub al-Ilmiyah.
------------. (1985). Mishkāt al-Anwār (The Niche for Lights); Translated by Sadegh Ayyenevand; Tehran: Amir Kabir.
Kalabadi, Abu Bakr Muhammad ibn Ibrahim. (2007). Khulāṣat Sharḥ al-Ta‘arruf; Edited by Ahmadali Rajaee; Tehran: Research Institute for Human Sciences and Cultural Studies.
Mirdar Rezaei, Mostafa & Baloo, Farzad. (2022). “The Nature of Language and Its Vocabulary in the Thought of Imam Muhammad Ghazali”; Journal of Persian Language and Literature, Kharazmi University; Vol. 30, No. 93; pp: 307–328.
Mir’emadi, Seyyed Ali. (2003). Understanding the Mind and Language Over Time; Tehran: Varjavand.
Mustamali Bukhari. (1984). Sharh al-Ta’arruf li Madhhab al-Tasawwuf; Edited, revised, and with introduction by Mohammad Roshan; Tehran: Asatir.
Nadarloo, Beitollah. (2011). “Wittgenstein’s Language-Game Theory: A Postmodern Philosophical Viewpoint on Language”; Fundamental Western Studies; Vol. 2, No. 1; pp: 87–100.
Nourian, Mehdi & Bagherzadeh, Hashem. (2017); “The Role of Epiphany (Tajalli) in the Stages of the Spiritual Path”; Research Letter of Mysticism; No. 16; pp: 221–253.
Robins, R. H. (1999). A Short History of Linguistics; Translated by Ali-Mohammad Haghshenas; Tehran: Nashr-e Markaz.
Qushayri, Abd al-Karim ibn Hawazin. (2002). Risalat al-Qushayriyyah; Translated by Abu Ali Hasan ibn Ahmad Usmani; Edited and supplemented by Badi’ al-Zaman Furuzanfar; Tehran: Elmi va Farhangi.
Saussure, Ferdinand de. (2003). Course in General Linguistics; Translated by Kourosh Safavi; Tehran: Hermes.
Sajjadi, Seyyed Jafar. (1960). Dictionary of Mystical and Sufi Terminology; Tehran: Mostafavi Printing House.
Stace, Walter Terence. (2002). Mysticism and Philosophy; Translated by Baha’oddin Khorramshahi; 2nd ed.; Tehran: Soroush.
Shafiei Kadkani, Mohammad Reza. (2013). The Language of Poetry in Sufi Prose; Tehran: Sokhan.
Shajari, Morteza & Goozloo, Zahra. (2013). “The Human Heart and Its Stages in Islamic Mysticism”; Journal of Mystical Literature and Mythology; Vol. 9, No. 33; pp: 139–176.
Safavi, Kourosh. (2008). A Reflection on the Thoughts and Views of the Father of Modern Linguistics; Qom: Tebyan Cultural and Information Institute.
Taghavi, Ahmad. (2005). A Study of the Mystical Thoughts of Ahmad Ghazali; Tehran: Amir Kabir.
Tizheh, Zohreh. (2014). A Comparison of the Thoughts of Ahmad Ghazali and Hafez; Master’s Thesis; Kermanshah Azad University; Supervisor: Dr. Khalil Beykzadeh.
Trask, R. L., & Maybin, Bill. (2003). Linguistics; Translated by Heshmatollah Sabbaghi; Tehran: Shirazeh.
Webster, Roger. (2003). An Introduction to the Study of Literary Theory; Translated by Elahi
Literary Research
Volume 22, Issue 90
Winter 2026
Pages 139-160