1. Introduction
Proponents of cognitive philosophy maintain that “language reveals the speaker’s mental attitude or cognitive state” (Shart, 2017, p. 104). When mystics speak about their spiritual emotions and lived mystical experiences, they enrich the depth of their discourse with salient characteristics that reflect the reader’s perception and understanding of existence. From the perspective of cognitive science, one of the most prominent aspects of such discourse is the use of metaphorical schemas in the language of mysticism and the investigation of how linguistic significations and human cognitive structures represent the relationship between the external world and embodied cognition.
The present study seeks to explain the linguistic layers of one of the best-known prose masterpieces of Persian mystical literature, Misbāḥ al-Hidāyah wa Miftāḥ al-Kifāyah, through the analytical framework of linguistic schemas and conceptual metaphors, as these provide a more appropriate means of representing the highly abstract concepts of mysticism.

2. Methodology
This study was conducted using a library-based research method and adopts the framework of cognitive stylistics through an interdisciplinary approach integrating linguistic studies and cognitive science. Within this framework, the image schemas employed in the language of Misbāḥ al-Hidāyah have been systematically examined.

3. Discussion
The language of mysticism constitutes a distinctive variety of human language and represents the cultivated manifestation of human thought. The fundamental link between language and mystical thought is metaphor. As Ortony (1979: 8) observes, “metaphor is both the origin of language and a governing principle of human discourse.” The language of mysticism, whose primary function is to express inner spiritual meanings (Fouladi, 2010, p. 223), is replete with metaphorical resonances that reflect the mystic’s understanding of existence and the transcendental realm beyond it.
According to Likaf and Johnson (2018, p. 21), conceptual metaphors extend far beyond ordinary linguistic and verbal modes of thought; they encompass broader cognitive processes than figurative, poetic, or imaginative language alone. The knowledge embedded within metaphors reflects the author’s embodied, cultural, and experiential background and serves as an important indicator for interpreting the extra-linguistic dimensions of the text.
Within the framework of Cognitive Linguistics, the schematic structures underlying metaphorical language and their corresponding mappings are analyzed from three principal perspectives: orientational, structural, and ontological.
Most orientational conceptual metaphors in Kāshānī’s language consist of words and expressions formed through the integration of concrete spatial experiences with abstract conceptual knowledge. In some instances, these metaphors derive their semantic significance from propositions involving animals and elements associated with their biological existence. Moreover, many Sufi technical terms are interpreted within the conceptual framework of Islam and Qur’anic teachings. Consequently, the majority of the structural metaphors in this work are understood through their close affinity with Islamic intellectual and theological thought.
When Likaf identifies thought, as embodied in language, as the origin of metaphor, he is in fact emphasizing its ontological dimension. He regards metaphor as an inseparable component of the ordinary cognitive process through which human beings conceptualize the world, arguing that everyday human behavior itself reflects a metaphorical understanding of lived experience (Likaf, 2011, p. 138).
This ontological aspect becomes even more prominent in mystical discourse, whose narrative structures are deeply rooted in metaphorical and mythological patterns. At the beginning of his work, Kāshānī employs a series of spatially mapped metaphors to describe the moment of the world’s creation. Examining these metaphors from the perspective of Conceptual Metaphor Theory demonstrates that the speaker’s language unconsciously follows the theological and ontological structures of the human mind. This cognitive framework enables the author to conceptualize existence—and the Divine Lordship that transcends it—through categories derived from natural phenomena.

4. Conclusion
The mystical language employed in Misbāḥ al-Hidāyah and Miftāḥ al-Kifāyah, owing to its extensive use of image schemas and conceptual metaphors, constitutes one of the most significant aspects of the work from the perspective of cognitive stylistics.
In constructing his metaphorical mappings, Kāshānī consistently endeavors to articulate abstract mystical concepts through lexical forms grounded in concrete sensory experience. These metaphors were analyzed according to the three principal categories of conceptual metaphor proposed by Likaf and Johnson: orientational, structural, and ontological metaphors.
The orientational metaphors found in Kāshānī’s language, which are employed to spatially structure and conceptualize abstract mental notions, do not differ substantially from those observed in other human languages. Structural metaphors, on the other hand, serve to explain the distinctive cultural, intellectual, and mystical concepts embedded within Sufi thought and tradition.
A proper understanding of Kāshānī’s ontological metaphors requires familiarity with theological discourse and, in certain instances, mythological traditions. Furthermore, the interpretation of these metaphors often necessitates hermeneutic analysis, as their meanings extend beyond the literal linguistic level and invite deeper symbolic and interpretive readings.