شطح: سرریزهای روح بر زبان

In Sufi terminology, Shat'h is a series of aesthetic words expressed involuntarily by mystics during the mystical experiences. There have been multifarious interpretations and judgments concerning these paradoxes ranging from linguistic and epistemic interpretations to religious ones. The Sufis and their opponents have also voiced their diametrically opposing views on this issue. The present study addresses the traditional Sufi doctrines as well as what has been suggested about the various aspects of Shat'h including its ambiguity, its relationship to poetry, and its paradoxicality as argued by the contemporaries. The central issue of concern is whether these aesthetic words carry more emotional or epistemic content. Another impetus behind this research is to probe whether the linguistic expression of these words is indeed a representation of a special form of life. A deep understanding of these words requires a certain affinity and empathy with this form of life without which it's hardly possible to see the hidden meanings of the words. Thus, it is argued that the justification of Shat'h is more importand than its explanation.