Ideas About the Status of the Mind (according to Iranian sources until the end of the 13th century)
The concept of “mind” is one of the main categories of Iranian thought. Derivatives from it are found in the written heritage of Iranian tribes and peoples, starting with the Avesta, including, of course, in the poetry of the Islamic era (for example, in the poetry of Rudaki, Kisai, Firdowsi, Nasir Khusraw, Sanai), as well as in prefaces to various prose treatises. Reason and its panegyric description are given a special place, which is a characteristic feature of Iranian culture. Over time, the lexeme kherad became the dominant feature of the lexical-semantic field “reason-reasonable”, displacing a number of synonyms. The author believes that the term “reason” (kherad) in Persian indicates not only the high mental abilities of a person, but also his moral, ethical and even religious qualities. There is a strong associative relationship between the word “mind” and such concepts as “knowledge”, “intelligence”, “insight”, “sharp mind”, “thinking”, “truthfulness”, “sincerity”, “moderation”, “love of homeland”, “piety”, “the desire to improve the world”, “pep”, “God’s grace”, “courage” and “purity”, as well as the opposition of “rationality” “emotionality”, “laziness”, “detachment”, “ hermitage”, “monasticism”, “lie” and “betrayal”. This word has formed a wide range of familiar associations, and over time, the word “reason” to some extent absorbed the meanings of these concepts.