Discourse Analysis of the "Gharrāʼ" Sermon of Nahj al-Balāghah Based on Norman Fairclough’s Theory

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 M.A. Arabic Language and Literature, Faculty of Literature and Humanities, Razi University, Kermanshah, Iran.

2 Full Professor, Department of Arabic Language and Literature, Faculty of Literature and Humanities, Razi University, Kermanshah, Iran.

3 Associate Professor, Department of Arabic Language and Literature, Faculty of Literature and Humanities, Razi University, Kermanshah, Iran.

Abstract

Nahj al-Balāghah is an exalted masterpiece in Islamic literature and Arabic rhetoric, profoundly influenced by the revelatory teachings of the Holy Quran. The "Gharrāʼ" sermon within it stands as a refined example of the integration of linguistic elements, religious hegemony, and Islamic-epistemological ideology, which, in discourse analysis, manifests as a social thought and identity-building process. This study aims to explore the discursive structures and content layers within the sermon, adopting a descriptive-analytical approach within the framework of Fairclough’s theory across three domains: "Description, interpretation, and explanation." It delves into the rhetorical-syntactic, intertextual, situational, and dominant ideological mechanisms. The findings, in the descriptive and interpretative levels, indicate that Imam Ali (AS) speaks from the depth of his being, employing rhetorical devices and robust syntactic arrangements in his sentences. Through pure and sometimes harsh truths and admonitions about the afterlife, he brings the listener into the hidden recesses of their soul, such that in the context of a funeral procession, his words create a spiritual resonance with the divine verses, making the listener not only overwhelmed with emotions and feelings but also transcending their rational faculties. Ultimately, this results in tears of sorrow and comprehension, physically manifesting as tremors in the listener. In the explanatory domain,with a critical outlook on human negligence and the pursuit of carnal desires and satanic temptations, the sermon emphasizes the necessity of reminders and warnings for the heedless,with the dominant hegemony being based on the ideology of warning, awakening, and the remembrance of the origin and resurrection.

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Main Subjects

References

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Hadith Studies and Researches
Volume 2, Issue 2
April 2025
Pages 43-80

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History

  • Receive Date: 19 January 2025
  • Revise Date: 03 March 2025
  • Accept Date: 11 March 2025
  • First Publish Date: 21 April 2025
  • Publish Date: 21 April 2025

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