The soul of the soil: Unearthing a Nation's eco‐empathy through 1200 years of Persian poetry

Abstract Cultivating a profound sense of connection with the natural world, conceptualized as eco‐empathy, is increasingly recognized as a vital precursor to effective environmental stewardship. While scientific data frame ecological crises, literary traditions offer a unique archive for tracing the history of this empathetic bond. This study positions 1200 years of Persian poetry as a case study to demonstrate how humanities‐based approaches reveal the deep‐seated cultural dimensions of eco‐empathy through the evolving perception of soil. We conducted a diachronic semantic analysis of the word khāk (soil) across Persian poetry spanning the 3rd to the 14th centuries of the Solar Hijri calendar. By extracting data from the works of 49 influential poets via the Ganjoor digital library and archival sources, we identified and quantified 10 primary contextual meanings of khāk : (1) death/mourning; (2) natural body/plant growth medium; (3) humility; (4) land/ground; (5) worthless entity; (6) clay of creation; (7) expression of servitude; (8) dust; (9) collyrium (love); and (10) mortal world. This methodological approach facilitated the mapping of collective eco‐empathy by tracking how soil has been culturally encoded over time. The findings reveal that khāk is a ‘fluid cultural signifier’ mirroring the fluctuating nature of societal eco‐empathy. The predominant meaning, ‘death and mourning’, frames soil as the locus of human finitude. The parity between ‘natural body/plant growth medium’ and ‘humility’ highlights a core duality: recognizing soil's material agency alongside its ethical symbolism. Furthermore, the analysis uncovers a chronological shift in eco‐empathy, moving from traditional spiritual and cosmological orientations in early periods toward critical, social and nationalistic expressions in the modern era. Consequently, the semantic evolution of khāk establishes Persian poetry as a long‐term form of ecopoetry that archives the nation's developing eco‐empathy. The transformation of these 10 semantic domains reflects fundamental shifts in the cognitive and affective relationship between Iranians and their environment. This research validates literary analysis as a robust tool for reconstructing historical eco‐empathy, offering novel pathways for culturally attuned environmental communication. Read the free Plain Language Summary for this article on the Journal blog.