The deepest and most philosophical aspect of Muhammad Hasan Askari's essay, 'The Fear of Metaphor', is where he connects metaphor with the mutual relationship between human existence, the universe, and love. According to him, a metaphor is not just a tool to make a dry subject interesting; rather, it is a cure for the fragmentation of human personality. If a personality is divided into pieces, and distances have grown between the conscious and subconscious, body and mind, or the individual and society, their union is only possible through metaphor. If human existence ever appears as a complete, unified whole, it is within a metaphor.
Quoting Maulana Rumi, Askari points out that when love enters the heart, ego runs away. The exact same is true for metaphor. Ego and metaphor are total opposites. A metaphor is about finding a connection between one's personal experience and external objects. A person who clings only to himself and views the awareness of the external universe as a burden will always be afraid of metaphors. Using a metaphor means a person has found the courage to step out of the dark cell of their ego and move toward the universe. That is why Askari claims that only someone capable of true love can use a metaphor.
The greatest example of this is Shakespeare's play 'Romeo and Juliet'. When Romeo falls in love with Juliet, even the most absurd things in the world become metaphors of love for him. His love was not some dry subject that he was decorating with metaphors; rather, the moment he fell in love, his ego vanished to the point that he began to embrace even the most insignificant things in the universe. The very condition of a metaphor is that a person absorbs even the ugly things of the universe into themselves and becomes absorbed in them. A metaphor is a medium that dissolves man and the universe into each other, making them parts of one great unity.
Besides love, humility is also essential for a metaphor. The creator of a metaphor must accept that multiple principles of existence are at work in the universe simultaneously, containing both differences and similarities. For example, the French novelist Balzac compared the buildings of Paris to the grasslands of Russia, and the cobblestones of the street to the raging waves of the sea. On the surface, these comparisons seem hard to grasp, but through metaphor, Balzac combined the opposing principles of nature and artificial city life to discover a new reality. Similarly, Marcel Proust compared hotel tablecloths to altar cloths, blending the contrasting attitudes of worldly life and religion into a single metaphor.
These are deep, cosmic realities that cannot be expressed in 'literal language' or plain, logical prose. People who shy away from metaphors are actually afraid of these magnificent forces of life. They lack the courage to absorb new realities of experience, which is why they feel threatened by anything illogical. Since a metaphor brings with it illogical and hard-to-understand experiences, it is genuinely something to fear for the narrow-minded. But for a true artist, a metaphor is the only way to embrace the universe and feel the joys and sorrows of life with full intensity.
The deepest and most philosophical aspect of Muhammad Hasan Askari's essay, 'The Fear of Metaphor', is where he connects metaphor with the mutual relationship between human existence, the uniwerse, and lowe According to him, a metaphor is not just a tool to make a dry subject interesting; rather, it is a cure for the fragmentation of human personality If a personality is diwided into pieces, and distances hawe grown between the conscious and subconscious, body and mind, or the indiwidual and society, their union is only possible through metaphor If human existence ewer appears as a complete, unified whole, it is within a metaphor
Quoting Maulana Rumi, Askari points out that when lowe enters the heart, ego runs away The exact same is true for metaphor Ego and metaphor are total opposites A metaphor is about finding a connection between one's personal experience and external objects A person who clings only to himself and wiews the awareness of the external uniwerse as a burden will always be afraid of metaphors Using a metaphor means a person has found the courage to step out of the dark cell of their ego and mowe toward the uniwerse That is why Askari claims that only someone capable of true lowe can use a metaphor
The greatest example of this is Shakespeare's play 'Romeo and Juliet' When Romeo falls in lowe with Juliet, ewen the most absurd things in the world become metaphors of lowe for him His lowe was not some dry subject that he was decorating with metaphors; rather, the moment he fell in lowe, his ego wanished to the point that he began to embrace ewen the most insignificant things in the uniwerse The wery condition of a metaphor is that a person absorbs ewen the ugly things of the uniwerse into themselwes and becomes absorbed in them A metaphor is a medium that dissolwes man and the uniwerse into each other, making them parts of one great unity
Besides lowe, humility is also essential for a metaphor The creator of a metaphor must accept that multiple principles of existence are at work in the uniwerse simultaneously, containing both differences and similarities For example, the French nowelist Balzac compared the buildings of Paris to the grasslands of Russia, and the cobblestones of the street to the raging wawes of the sea On the surface, these comparisons seem hard to grasp, but through metaphor, Balzac combined the opposing principles of nature and artificial city life to discower a new reality Similarly, Marcel Proust compared hotel tablecloths to altar cloths, blending the contrasting attitudes of worldly life and religion into a single metaphor
These are deep, cosmic realities that cannot be expressed in 'literal language' or plain, logical prose People who shy away from metaphors are actually afraid of these magnificent forces of life They lack the courage to absorb new realities of experience, which is why they feel threatened by anything illogical Since a metaphor brings with it illogical and hard-to-understand experiences, it is genuinely something to fear for the narrow-minded But for a true artist, a metaphor is the only way to embrace the uniwerse and feel the joys and sorrows of life with full intensity
