Religions and Mysticism

Religions and Mysticism

The Closure of the Horizon of Understanding A Hermeneutical Analysis of the Narrative of Iblis in Mirṣād al-ʿIbād Based on Gadamer’s Theory

Document Type : Research Paper

Author
Fatemeh Savab
Assistant Professor, Department of Persian Language and Literature, Faculty of Literature and Humanities, University of Sistan and Baluchestan, Zahedan, Iran.
10.22059/jrm.2026.410363.630723
Abstract
The narrative of Iblis in Islamic-mystical texts, including Najm al-Din Razi’s Mirṣād al-ʿIbād, is not merely the retelling of a theological or moral event; rather, it possesses multiple layers of meaning that open the way to new interpretive readings. Employing an analytical-interpretive approach grounded in the philosophical hermeneutics of Hans-Georg Gadamer, this study rereads the narrative of Iblis in Mirṣād al-ʿIbād with a focus on such concepts as the “horizon of understanding,” “prejudice” (pre-judgment), the “historicity of understanding,” and the “fusion of horizons.” The central problem addressed is how Iblis, as an interpretive subject, becomes trapped within a fixed horizon of understanding, and how this entrapment leads to the closure of understanding and, ultimately, to his semantic—or hermeneutical—fall. The findings indicate that Iblis, relying on entrenched prejudices, fails to remain open to the transcendent horizon of the divine and to enter into the process of interpretive dialogue—a condition that results in the foreclosure of the horizon of understanding and the failure to achieve a fusion of horizons, thereby blocking the possibility of attaining truth in the Gadamerian sense. On this basis, the narrative of Iblis in Mirṣād al-ʿIbād should be read not merely as a representation of moral or mythological evil, but as an instance of hermeneutical arrogance and the closure of the horizon of understanding. The originality of this study lies in shifting the focus of analysis from theological judgments to the mechanisms by which understanding is formed, fixed, and foreclosed, as well as in offering a hermeneutical reading of classical mystical narratives.
Keywords
Philosophical Hermeneutics
Hans-Georg Gadamer
Closure of the Horizon of Understanding
The Narrative of Iblis
Mirṣād al-ʿIbād
Subjects
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Religions and Mysticism
Volume 59, Issue 1
(Spring & Summer 2026)
September 2026
Pages 85-106