This axis brings together 2 locations where this verse is used in Muhammad Shahrur’s books, linking it to the concepts and arguments that appear around it.
The verse text as cited
Nūn. By the pen and what they inscribe.
Brief reading
In Shahrur’s work, the verse establishes the link between human knowledge and the instrument of distinction and inscription, and it interprets the pen as a sign of classification and understanding.
Axes
- Methodological
- Linguistic and semantic
Related concepts
- The pen: 3
- Distinction: 1
- Classification: 1
- Human knowledge: 1
Its place in the network of concepts
It is directly connected to the network of concepts of knowledge and distinction in his reading of the Book.
The verse’s role in the argument
- Establishment: 2
Uses
- The Qur’an in Contemporary Thought, pp. 37-38: He relies on it in his theory of knowledge to link human understanding to the means of distinction and scientific inscription.
- Concept: the pen
- Function of the verse here: Establishment
- Textual evidence: «It comes through the “pen,” that is, trimming… as stated in the saying of the Exalted: {their … and what they inscribe} (al-Qalam 1)»
- The Book and the Qur’an, p. 281: He builds on the verse to argue that the nun and the pen symbolize distinction and classification in human knowledge.
- Concept: the pen
- Function of the verse here: Establishment
- Textual evidence: «The text says: ”… that is in His saying, Exalted is He, {they inscribe} (al-Qalam 1). … So he followed it with His saying {and the pen}. … Thus the sound of the nūn increased in trimming things … so He said {Nūn and the pen and what they inscribe}.“»
Related books
This page is presented within the general method of building the atlas.