Analysis of the Application of Eliade’s Mythical View in Safvat al-Safa by Ibn-e Bazaz Ardabili
ادبیات عرفانی July 24, 2021 Ramin Moharrami, Soraiya Karimi Younjali
A descriptive-analytical critique of Ibn-e Bazaz Ardabili's Safvat al-Safa applies Mircea Eliade's theory of myth, which treats myth as sacred, exemplary, and repeatable. The hero, Sheikh Safi al-Din Ardabili, achieves trans-human conditions by transforming sensory experience into religious experience, halting his profane existence and entering a world of light through supernatural forces. His mythical sanctity resembles archetypal divine models. Examples of Eliade's mythical times and places appear in the text. Through austerity, Sheikh Safi gains religious power, illumination, and inner self-recognition. His initiation involves hard tests and confined spaces representing rebirth, leading to divine manifestation (tajalli) and spiritual ascension where he meets angels.