This locus brings together 2 instances of the use of this verse in Muhammad Shahrur’s books, linking it to the concepts and arguments that appear around it.
The verse text as quoted
Does not man remember that We created him before, when he was nothing?
Brief reading
The verse is taken as an example of reference to the distant past at the moment of the first creation and what precedes existence.
Loci
- Narrative and historical
- Faith-based
Associated concepts
- First creation: 2
- Nothingness: 2
- Distant past: 1
Its place in the conceptual network
It enters the network of creation and nothingness as an indication of the origin of beginnings.
The verse’s role in the argument
- Example: 1
- Support: 1
Instances of use
- The Qur’anic Narrative, Vol. 1, p. 129: cited by him to extend the meaning of “before” to the distant past at the moment of the first creation.
- Concept: First creation
- Function of the verse here: Example
- Textual evidence: “{Does not man remember that We created him before, when he was nothing?} (Maryam: 67)”
- Drying Up the Sources of Terrorism, p. 286: used as evidence that man and existence came from nothingness, in the sense of the signifier preceding the signified.
- Concept: Nothingness
- Function of the verse here: Support
- Textual evidence: “As stated in His – تعالى – words: {Does not man remember … when he was nothing?} (Maryam 67).”
Related books
This page is presented within the general methodology of building the atlas.