This locus brings together 3 instances of the use of this verse in Muhammad Shahrur’s books, linking it to the concepts and arguments that appear around it.
Text of the Verse as Cited
The Romans have been defeated * in the nearest land, yet after their defeat they shall prevail * within a few years
Reader’s Answer
Question
How does Shahrur read, in the divine saying, “yet after their defeat they shall prevail * within a few years,” the relationship between the Qur’anic report and time?
Shahrur employs the verse—especially the phrase “To God belongs the command before and after”—to distinguish between two times measured from the “present moment”: what has passed from it is the unseen past, and what comes after it is the unseen future. Thus, he does not treat “before” and “after” as fixed meanings separate from the human temporal position, but as markers of what preceded the present and what followed it, while attributing command in both directions to God.
In his reading of the verse, Shahrur connects “before” and “after” to the present moment: the past before it belongs to the unseen past, and what comes after it belongs to the unseen future. He uses the verse in his discussion of Qur’anic stories and reports as truth, admonition, and remembrance, rather than as a source of detailed legislative behavioral rulings of the “do this and do not do that” kind.
Citation and Location
Qur’anic Stories, vol. 1 — p. 128.
Limits of the Reading
- The direct citation does not explain in detail the report of the Romans’ defeat, nor does it offer historical proof of its fulfillment; its principal subject is the division of the unseen into past and future in relation to the “present moment.”
- The citation does not establish that Shahrur treats the verse as a specific model of “reports of the future that were later fulfilled”; the attached quotation from “Islam and Humanity” concerns the division of the unseen in general and does not mention the verses of al-Rum.
- It is not valid to construct a connection between the verse and the citation concerning the civilization of ʿAd merely because both discuss reports or time, since the latter does not address the verses of al-Rum.
Continue From Here
Brief Reading
The verses here serve to establish an understanding that connects the Qur’anic report to what occurs in time, making before and after markers of the movement of events rather than of a fixed meaning outside them.
Axes
- Narrative and historical
- Linguistic and semantic
Related Concepts
- Report of the unseen: 2
- Time: 2
- Temporality: 2
Its Place in the Conceptual Network
It is connected to the conceptual network through the unseen and time as entry points for reading the Qur’anic event.
The Verse’s Role in the Argument
- Foundational: 2
- Example: 1
Instances of Use
- Islam and Humanity, p. 40: He presents it as an example of reports of the future in the Qur’an that events later fulfilled.
- Concept: report of the unseen
- Function of the verse here: example
- Textual citation: “{ The Romans have been defeated … they shall prevail * within a few years } (al-Rum 2–4)”
- Qur’anic Stories, vol. 1, p. 128: He opens with it to explain that the words before and after in the Qur’an are understood as temporal dimensions related to us, not to God.
- Concept: time
- Function of the verse here: foundational
- Textual citation: “after, and on that day the believers shall rejoice (al-Rum: 2–4)”
- Qur’anic Stories, vol. 2, p. 128: He relies on the verses of al-Rum to distinguish the meaning of (before) and (after) as two temporal indicators that determine the past and future in Qur’anic discourse.
- Concept: temporality
- Function of the verse here: foundational
- Textual citation: “after, and on that day the believers shall rejoice (al-Rum: 2–4)… We pause at these three verses from Surat al-Rum, specifically at the (before), which points to the past, and at the (after), which points to the future.”
Related Books
This page is presented within the general atlas construction methodology.