The Poetics of Divine Love: Metaphorical Expressions of ʿIshq in Rūmī’s Maѕnavī-i Maʿnavī

Jalāl al-Dīn Rūmī’s (d. 672/1273) Maѕnavī-i Maʿnavī is replete with metaphors of love that function as epistemological and ontological instruments, serving both to impart knowledge and to reflect the structure of reality. This study examines how Rūmī employs the language of love as a means to express ineffable mystical realities of divine love and union, and to catalyze the transformation of the soul. Rūmī’s poetic metaphors—such as likening love to the astrolabe of God’s mysteries or to a consuming flame, images that frame love as both a navigational tool to the Divine and a fire that purifies by consuming the self—convey the paradoxical nature of divine love, wherein intense longing and self-annihilation lead to spiritual fulfillment. Through allegorical narratives and symbolic imagery, Rūmī articulates profound insights into the soul’s journey toward the Divine and its inner metamorphosis through love. The analysis highlights the indispensable role of metaphor in expressing what is beyond ordinary language, illustrating that in the Maѕnavī love is not merely a theme but a deliberate pedagogical tool and an existential principle guiding the seeker toward experiential knowledge of divine unity.