Symbolism of Suhrawardi and his work "Awarifu'l-Ma'arif"

This study is about Suhrawardi who stand for sufi symbolism and also examines metaphorical expressions in his work ?Awarifu?l-ma`arif??.The thesis comprises an introduction, three chapter and a conclusion.İntroduction comprises of three titles: definition of symbolism, symbolism in islamic thought and symbolism in sufism.İn the first chapter we examined the life of Suhrawardi and his intellectual identity.İn the second chapter, we initially studied preliminary information about Awarifu?l-ma`arif then its literature and language features.The third chapter contains opinions about symbolic expressions in Awarifu?l-ma`arif and explains its importance in sufi symbolism.İn conclusion, we infered that symbolism is a method used typically in sufism works but in Awarif symbols are used less than other works.Key Words: Sufism, symbolism, metaphor, secret.