The elements of humanity and Sufism in Henry David Thoreau’s Walden

• Authors: Ali Arian
• Languages of publication: EN

Abstracts

EN

It seems that the very important role of literature is its transcendental appeal. Literature knows no boundary and it ties whole nations even if they are politically segregated. The present paper tries to trace some of the salient features of humanism and Sufism, such as Absolute Unity, simplicity, selfknowing, purity, solitude, loving one another and some others in Henry David Thoreau’s Walden. This American writer, as an ardent follower of the Transcendental Club in America and the holy scriptures of the East, was known as the hero of simplicity in the U.S.A. Being a protester against government and society, he dwelled for more than two years alone in Walden Pond to see the mysteries of life and to find Reality and the Almighty. He believed Nature to be the best teacher and opined that every parcel of nature is a sign of God. He came to know about the holy scriptures of the East, especially those of the Indians and strongly used them in his writings, especially in Walden and the Week. Therefore such a person who seeks God, indeed, can be familiar with elements of humanism and Sufism, and one can find such elements in Walden by pondering its text

• Publisher: Sciendo
• Journal: Ars Aeterna
• Year: 2015
• Volume: 7
• Issue: 1
• Pages: 35-40

Dates

published

2015-06-01

online

2015-07-14

Contributors

author

Ali Arian

• Azerbaijan Shahid Madani University Tabriz Iran

References

• Deshmukh, D. G. 1974. Thoreau and Indian Thought. Nagpur: Nagpur University Press.
• Mayer, M. 1977. Several more Lives to Live. Conneticut: Greenwood Press.
• Hildebidle, J. 1983. Thoreau: A Naturalists Liberty. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
• Sharda. S. R. 1998. Sufi Thought: Its development in Panjab and its impact on Panjabi literature from Baba Farid to AD 1850. New Delhi: Munshiram Mannoharal Publishers Pvt.Ltd.
• Sherman, P. (ed). 1962. Thoreau: A Collection of Critical Essays. New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs.
• Tripathy, S. 1992. Henry David Thoreau: Quest for Hindu Idealism. Bhubaneswar: Kalinga Printers.

Identifiers

DOI

10.1515/aa-2015-0005