Document Type : Original Article
Authors
1 Assistant Professor, Research Institute for Interdisciplinary Quranic Studies, Shahid Beheshti University, Tehran, Iran
2 Associate Professor, Quran and Hadith, Allameh Tabataba’i University. Tehran, Iran
Abstract
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Main Subjects
Article Title [العربیة]
Authors [العربیة]
Understanding the precise meanings of Qur’anic words and distinguishing their semantic nuances in different intertextual contexts is of crucial importance, given the revealed nature of the text and the central role of uncovering deeper layers of meaning in its vocabulary. Among the Qur’anic domains that require particular attention are those words that function as symbols. These words are not “cryptic codes”; rather, their being symbolic means that, in addition to an explicit, surface meaning, they also convey implicit meanings in certain usages. “Janāḥ” and its derivatives in the Qur’an may be regarded as belonging to this group, since in collocation with different words they indicate, beyond the basic concept of “wing”, a range of further meanings. A comparative analysis of this word and its derivatives with the ritual–cultural symbols of “wing” likewise confirms the existence of symbolic meanings attached to this word. Accordingly, adopting an interdisciplinary approach and drawing on a ritual–cultural semiotic method, the present study examines points of convergence and divergence between ritual–cultural symbols of “wing” and the Qur’anic uses of the root “j–n–ḥ” and its derivatives. The findings indicate common components such as power, share/portion, and the unseen between the Qur’anic symbols of janāḥ and the ritual–cultural symbol of wing, and they reveal a new configuration of the semantic component of direction and orientation in the Qur’anic usages.
Keywords [العربیة]
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