Global Narrative of Healing: Semiotic Analysis of Ibn Tufail’s Hayy ibn Yaqzan

Abstract

This study aims to analyze medical semiotics and symbols related to the body and soul in Ibn Tufail’s Hayy ibn Yaqzan, and to reveal how the author employs literary narrative to convey medical, philosophical, and spiritual knowledge. The study’s significance lies in the narrative’s ability to link individual experience, careful observation of nature, and human spiritual elevation, making it a unique model of interaction between mind, body, and soul.

The central research question asks: How does Ibn Tufail depict medical semiotics and the pursuit of self-knowledge and understanding of existence through Hayy’s experience? Sub-questions include the function of the senses, the nature of the soul, the relationship between scientific knowledge and experiential learning, and the use of precise medical terminology within the narrative. To achieve these objectives, the study adopts a semiotic approach and discourse analysis methodology, involving a careful reading of the original text, analyzing medical, philosophical, and spiritual signs, and linking them to Islamic, philosophical, and medical sources to contextualize their intellectual significance. The study concludes that Hayy ibn Yaqzan represents a comprehensive model of human knowledge, where Ibn Tufail integrates medicine, philosophy, and personal experience, using literary narrative to convey precise concepts, analyze the relationship between body and soul, and explore the impact of nature and experience on awareness and knowledge. Furthermore, the narrative offers a global model of self-learning and spiritual elevation, making it a pivotal work for understanding human interaction with the universe in Islamic heritage.