Journal of the stylistic of Persian poem and prose
volume Number 19، number In Volume 3، June 2026 ، issue Number 121

Analysis and study of the re-creation of the narrative of Shams and Rumi in the novel "The Nation of Love" based on intertextuality

Mousa Piri , Ahmad Farshbafian (Author in Charge), Mohammad Ali Mousizadeh , Mohammad Reza Abedi

Abstract

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: The primary objective of this article is to explain how narrative, stylistic, and semantic elements are adapted and recreated from a classical Sufi text into a contemporary novel. Intertextuality theory and criticism, as one of the modern approaches in 20th-century literary criticism, provides a method for reading literary texts based on comparison and juxtaposition. In fact, this theory examines the connection and interaction between texts. Adopting a comparative approach and based on the theory of intertextuality, the present study analyzes the recreation of the narrative of Shams and Rumi in two different sources: Aflaki"s Manaqib al-Arifin* (8th century AH) and Elif Shafak"s novel The Forty Rules of Love (21st century AD).

METHODOLOGY: The research conducted for this study employs a descriptive-analytical method.

FINDINGS: The findings indicate that by utilizing the key structures and themes of Manaqib al-Arifin*—including the trial of the disciples, the first meeting of Shams and Rumi, the request for wine, the beginning of Sama (whirling), the murder of Shams, the disposal of his body in a well, and the offering of rewards for news of Shams—Shafak has implemented a process of "transformative rewriting." Through this process, traditional mystical patterns are reproduced within a psychological, narrative, and human-centered framework.

CONCLUSION: The article emphasizes that Shafak"s adaptation is not mere imitation but an intercultural recreation through which the heritage of Persian mysticism is reinterpreted within a global and modern horizon. In such a way, The Forty Rules of Love*, by relying on the classical source of Persian mysticism, has created a model for dialogue between tradition and modernity, East and West, and contemporary mysticism and psychology.

Keyword
Rumi , Shams Tabrizi , The Forty Rules of Love , Intertextuality.