This locus brings together 2 instances of the use of this verse in the books of Muhammad Shahrur, linking it to the concepts and arguments that appear around it.
The Verse Text as Cited
Then He proportioned him and breathed into him of His spirit
Reader’s Answer
Question
How does Muhammad Shahrur employ God’s saying: “Then He proportioned him and breathed into him of His spirit, and made for you hearing, sight, and hearts”?
Shahrur employs the verse, together with verse 23 of The Dominion, in a linguistic observation concerning the coordination of “hearing, sight, and hearts.” He regards hearing and sight as functions of the ear and the eye, then draws on a grammatical rule he formulates concerning coordination in order to assign significance, in his reading, to the pairing of “hearts” with them. However, the available evidence does not explain the meaning of “the breathing of the spirit” itself or establish a detailed definition of it.
Shahrur cites The Prostration 9 alongside The Dominion 23 when discussing the connection between hearing, sight, and the heart/hearts. He states that hearing is a function of the ear and sight a function of the eye, and argues that coordination occurs between attributes or between the things described; this is the course of his reasoning in the cited passage.
Evidence and Location
The Book and the Qur’an — p. 228.
Limits of the Reading
- The available excerpt does not define “the spirit” or explain the nature of the breathing or the stages of human formation.
- It is not valid to attribute a specific interpretation of the breathing of the spirit to this passage merely because the phrase occurs in the verse; the available detailed evidence revolves around hearing, sight, hearts, and coordination.
- The reference in the introduction to Qur’anic Stories, vol. 2 to an earlier explanation is not a substitute for the text of that explanation.
Continue From Here
Brief Reading
Shahrur uses it to ground an understanding of the breathing of the spirit within the story of human formation and its connection to the heart.
Axes
- Faith-related
- Narrative and historical
Related Concepts
- The spirit: 2
- The spirit and the heart: 2
Its Place in the Network of Concepts
It forms part of a network explaining the emergence of the human being in terms of spirit and cognition.
The Verse’s Role in the Argument
- Foundational: 1
- Supporting: 1
Contexts of Use
- Qur’anic Stories, vol. 2, p. 7: He cites it to interpret the breathing of the spirit as a concept connected to human formation in his reading of the story of Adam.
- Concept: the spirit
- Function of the verse here: foundational
- Textual evidence: “And the breathing of the spirit in God’s saying { Then He proportioned him and breathed into him of His spirit…} (The Prostration 9)”
- The Book and the Qur’an, p. 228: He cites it to link the breathing of the spirit to the formation of the heart as an initial stage in human cognition.
- Concept: the spirit and the heart
- Function of the verse here: supporting
- Textual evidence: “{Then He proportioned him and breathed into him of His spirit, and made for you hearing, sight, and hearts} (The Prostration 9).”
Related Books
This page is presented within the overall methodology for building the atlas.