What the Record Establishes
The available evidence brings together the descriptions “the truth,” “the clear signs,” “the discourse,” “the magnificent Qur’an,” and “the blessed Book,” while qualifying them as being “according to different points of view.” This establishes that these descriptions are recorded in the available wording, without permitting a detailed account of what each one means.
Another Use of the Term Qur’an
Elsewhere, Shahrur describes a verse as follows: “Type of verse: a metaphorical Qur’an, requiring interpretation; interpretation is the correspondence of the verse with reason and reality—that is, the objective truthfulness and rationality of the report.” However, this usage does not explain the five descriptions mentioned here or determine the relationship among them.
What the Evidence Does Not Settle
The witness does not explain the functions of these descriptions, nor does it establish that their difference is a difference of function while a single underlying source remains. Therefore, the grouping given should not be turned into synonymy among the terms, or into a complete theory of their relationship, before raw context establishing this is provided.
Reading Connection
For the broader context, see Muhammad Shahrur: The Book and the Qur’an, The Book, the Qur’an, and the Mother of the Book, and the Qur’an. This atom is also connected to The Qur’anic understanding distinguishes between objective law and human choice.
The Qur’anic understanding distinguishes between objective law and human choice