Sufi symbolism of the beloved and the sea in Ahmadun Yosi Herfanda’s poetry: A perspective of Braginsky’s theory
KEMBARA Journal of Scientific Language Literature and Teaching April 30, 2026 Sujarwoko Sujarwoko, Suhartono Suhartono, Marista Dwi Rahmayantis
Symbols in Sufi poetry serve both aesthetic and spiritual functions, but prior analyses have often treated religious and existential imagery separately. This study applies Vladimir Braginsky's symbolic-Sufi framework to analyze the symbols of the Beloved and the sea in Ahmadun Yosi Herfanda's poetry. The Beloved represents the ultimate goal of union with the Divine, while the sea symbolizes the spiritual journey marked by longing, trials, and alienation. Together, these symbols form a unified mystical structure connecting journey and union, showing that mystical experience in this poetry is integrative and multidimensional. The work contributes a systematic analytical framework combining relational and processual dimensions of Sufi symbolism.