Symbolic Imagery

Sections Symbolic imagery of paradise and hellfire Symbolic pairs that distinguish belief from unbelief Imagery of the last day

The use of allusion and figurative language to produce vivid descriptions and complex levels of meaning. The symbolic imagery in the Qur’ān arises out of the symbolic imagery of previous revelations as well as out of the poetic conventions of pre-Islamic Arabia (see scripture and the qur’ān; poetry and poets; pre-islamic arabia and the qur’ān). While a key verse in the Qur’ān ( q 3:7) has sometimes been read to suggest that Muslims should not attempt to interpret its more ambiguous (q.v.) or symbolic passages, most Muslim exegetes (see exegesis of the qur’ān: classical and medieval) have not shied away from examining the symbolic imagery that radiates from virtually every chapter of the sacred text. Since the Qur’ān is first and foremost an oral text (see orality; orality and writing in arabia; recitation of the qur’ān), studies of symbolic imagery should not be limited to its visual dimension but should also take into account its aural dimension. At this stage in qur’ānic studies, however, much more attention has been paid to the Qur’ān's visual symbolism and the discussion that follows will focus upon examples of this visual dimension of qur’ānic imagery with particular emphasis on its use of paired symbolic concepts (see pairs and pairing).

Symbolic imagery of paradise and hellfire ^ Back to top

Passages throughout the Qur’ān use rich figurative language, often employing symbols that refer to desert life (see bedouin; arabs) or to poetic conventions that would have been familiar to those who first heard the revelations in seventh century Arabia. For example, Angelika Neuwirth has shown how the Qur’ān combines oath statements (see oaths) with symbolic allusions to tribal raids in order to construct meaning through what she calls a “matrix of images” or Bildmatrix (see Neuwirth, Images; see also rhetoric and the qur’ān; form and structure of the qur’ān). The qur’ānīc use of desert imagery takes place on a more mundane level as well, for instance in its juxtaposition of the heat of the open desert with the cool of the oasis (see hot and cold), a contrast that would have been immediately comprehensible to anyone living in such an environment. Understanding this latter type of symbolic imagery helps one to understand the juxtaposition between the tortures of the fire (q.v.) of hell (see hell and hellfire) and the pleasures of the garden (q.v.) of paradise (q.v.). In addition, the cool oasis evokes the trope of the fertile garden and the remembrance of the lost beloved that typically opens the early Arabian odes. The example of the garden thus illustrates how pre-existing associations serve as a vast repository of symbols that the Qur’ān draws upon in order to produce meaning in a new Islamic context.

The Qur’ān uses some of its most frequent symbolic imagery to refer to the two abodes of the next life, paradise and hellfire. Although different passages sometimes expand upon distinct aspects of paradise, this realm is almost invariably depicted as a garden of cool,

luxurious abundance through which rivers flow (see water of paradise; springs and fountains ). Hellfire, on the other hand, becomes associated with a number of more complex depictions and allusions, evoked through Arabic terms such as jahannam, jaḥīm, hāwiya, ḥuṭama, and the most basic, al-nār, “the fire.” Although these varied terms are connected to the idea of judgment (q.v.) and hellfire in some fashion, to collapse them into one collective term “hell” is to do violence to the subtleties of the qur’ānic symbolic discourse (Sells, Approaching, 24-6). The Qur’ān refers to fire in a personified form in a couple of cases ( q 21:40; 70:15-18) and in another as a metonym for idolatry ( q 40:41-42; see Sabbagh, Métaphore, 90; see idolatry and idolaters). It is important to recognize, however, that the Qur’ān does not always use fire as synonymous with hellfire, idolatry or evil (see good and evil). For instance, a verse compares the light (q.v.) of a campfire a person builds to the light of guidance that God is able to take away ( q 2:17; cf. also the fire image in the famous “Light Verse” of q 24:35).

Just as fire is a multivalent symbol in the Qur’ān, despite its frequent association with hellfire, so water (q.v.) expresses multiple values, despite its frequent association with paradise. As discussed above, references to the rivers of paradise are ubiquitous and the sending down of rain is often connected symbolically to God's sending down of revelations ( q 30:49; 31:34; 42:28; see Toelle, Coran, 115-20; cf. Lings, Qoranic symbolism; see revelation and inspiration) or blessings (see blessing; grace). Water also appears in the Qur’ān with reference to the flood, the treacherous seas and the destructive capacities of rain (see weather; punishment stories). The complex use of water symbolism also appears in pre-Islamic poetry and evokes the worldview of the desert environment in which the Qur’ān was first revealed.

Symbolic pairs that distinguish belief from unbelief ^ Back to top

As with hellfire and paradise, the Qur’ān contains a number of other paired concepts whose symbolic meanings transcend their simple juxtaposition. One of the most important of these paired concepts is the distinction between belief and unbelief (q.v.). This binary relationship forms the basis for a whole series of symbolic binaries in the Qur’ān: from hearing and deafness (q.v.; see also anatomy and ears) to sight and blindness (see vision and blindness; seeing and hearing; eyes); from fertile and withered crops (see agriculture and vegetation ) to the split between humans and animals (see animal life); from the distinction between the straight path and wandering lost (see astray; error) to the ubiquitous imagery of light and darkness (q.v.). The juxtaposition between the believers and their adversaries (see enemies) in the Qur’ān provides the basis for some of the most expressive of its similes (q.v.), metaphors (see metaphor), and parables (see parable).

For instance, the aforementioned Light Verse ( q 24:35; see verses) offers an image of God as light and of God's light as of an oil lamp in a niche. These images form complex symbols that have generated multiple and diverse interpretations by Muslim exegetes. The images are followed by the idea of light as a symbol of God's guidance: “God guides to his light whom he wills, God strikes parables for people, and in all things God is most knowing” (see freedom and predestination; knowledge and learning). This equation

between light and guidance is developed in a number of other passages (e.g. q 2:257; 4:174; 14:5) and is sometimes explicitly associated with God's revelations of the scriptures (e.g. q 5:15, 44, 46).

In addition to the “parables” (amthāl) mentioned in the Light Verse, the verses that immediately follow it contrast the believers who remember God with the disbelievers who presumably do not (see memory; remembrance; gratitude and ingratitude), the latter of whom are described in a pair of expressive similes:

And [as for] those who disbelieve, their works are like a mirage in a level plain that the thirsty one considers water until he comes to it and finds nothing… Or like darkness in a fathomless sea, covered by wave upon wave, over which are dark clouds, some above others. When one puts out one's hand, one almost cannot see it. He for whom God does not make a light, he does not have a light ( q 24:39-40).

The first of these similes makes use once again of the imagery of the desert, where one who has gone astray and is dying of thirst believes his deeds are bringing him to water, while they are actually bringing him to nothing (cf. q 13:14). In other passages, the Qur’ān employs different similes to suggest the futility of the deeds of those who deny the qur’ānic message, comparing their deeds to ashes (q.v.) blown about ( q 14:18; see good deeds; evil deeds; air and wind ) or to empty noises and gestures ( q 8:35). In the above passage, the water imagery derives from the idea of paradise as a garden in which rivers flow, a destination that this wayward traveler mistakenly believes is ahead of him. The second simile that follows the famous Light Verse is sometimes known as the Darkness Verse ( q 24:40) and it enriches the image of the light of God's guidance with a description of the darkness surrounding the unbe-liever. Not only is such a person without a light but surging and billowing darkness encompasses him or her on all sides: the deep and dark waters below, the layers of wave upon wave all around, the layers of dark clouds above, resulting in darkness so complete that sight is practically impossible. The symbolism of this Darkness Verse not only refers back to the Light Verse that precedes it and the idea of guidance, but it also evokes the vision/blindness binary as a trope for the distinction between belief and unbelief, as mentioned previously.

While images of light and darkness are frequently associated with the idea of guidance or lack thereof, another qur’ānic symbol associated with this idea is that of the straight road or path (al-ṣirāṭ al-mustaqīm; see path or way). This symbol implies that there are many ways to travel off the straight road, all of which will lead one to wander astray. The “opening” chapter of the Qur’ān, Sūrat al-Fātiḥa (see fātiḥa) mentions this trope in its verse, “Guide us on the straight road” ( q 1:6), and this same straight road appears in at least thirty other qur’ānic passages. In a few eschatological passages, this concept of a straight path takes concrete form in the image of the narrow bridge that spans the chasm between this world and the next (see eschatology).

In other passages, the symbol of the road or path appears in a related but somewhat broader symbolic context, for example when the Qur’ān describes righteous behavior as

climbing the steep uphill pass (al-ʿaqaba, q 90:11). The text explains the symbol in the following fashion:

“What can tell you of the steep pass?To free a slave (see slaves and slavery )To feed the destitute on a day of hunger (see famine),a kinsman orphan (q.v.),or a poor man in need (see poverty and the poor).

Be of those who keep the faith (q.v.), who counsel one another to patience (see trust and patience ), who counsel to compassion. They are of the right (see left hand and right hand). As for those who cast our signs (q.v.) away, they are of the left; over them a vault of fire” ( q 90:12-20).

This passage begins with a mysterious symbolic reference, signaled by the use of the phrase “what can tell you of” (mā adrāka mā) which typically introduces terms that require further elaboration. The allusion to the “steep pass” (ʿaqaba) here is followed by an explanation of the term as a spiritual metaphor.

The description of the “steep pass” above illustrates another category of binary symbols found in the Qur’ān, the juxtaposition between left and right as morally-charged concepts. While this juxtaposition is obviously an ancient one, the qur’ānic discourse was revealed in the context of an Arabian culture in which the left hand was considered unclean and the right was used for swearing oaths (see contracts and alliances). In addition, the Qur’ān refers to people “whom your right hand possesses” in reference to those people under one's control, such as war captives (q.v.) or slaves (e.g. q 4:3, 24-5, 33-6; 24:33, 58; 30:28). The passage above, however, shows how other verses in the Qur’ān invest the categories of left and right with moral signification, associating the former with evil and the latter with good (see ethics and the qur’ān). The distinction between the “people of the right” (aṣḥāb al-yamīn/al-maymana) and the “people of the left” (aṣḥāb al-mashʾama/al-shamāl) in q 90 above is elucidated at greater length in q 56. Here the former are said to rest contentedly in a garden paradise, while the latter face punishment in a scorching hellfire ( q 56:8-9, 27-38, 41-56, 90-4; see reward and punishment). Yet other passages depict the blessed receiving their book of deeds in their right hands on the last day (see heavenly book; last judgment), as opposed to those unfortunate enough to be given their books in another fashion. Such examples illustrate the symbolic weight that the Qur’ān invests in the concepts of right and left, especially when it comes to eschatological judgment.

Imagery of the last day ^ Back to top

Beyond the eschatological references discussed above, the Qur’ān presents graphic descriptions of what the world will be like on the last day (see apocalypse). In these passages, those things thought to be stable are ripped apart, the graves are opened and the earth yields up its secrets as if a mother giving birth (e.g. q 99). One particularly striking apocalyptic passage is found in q 101, The Calamity (Sūrat al-Qāriʿa), in which the

phrase “what can tell you” appears twice to introduce two presumably unfamiliar concepts:

The qāriʿa What is the qāriʿa What can tell you of the qāriʿa A day humankind are like moths scattered (ka-l-farāsh al-mabthūth) And mountains are like fluffs of wool (ka-l-ʿihn al-manfūsh) Whoever's scales weigh heavy (thaqulat mawāzīnuhu; see weights and measures )His is a life that is pleasing (rāḍiya) Whoever's scales weigh light (khaffatun mawāzīnuhu) His mother is hāwiya (see pit)What can tell you what she is (wa-mā adrāka mā hiya) Raging fire (nārun ḥāmiyatun, q 101:1-11).

This sūra offers a pair of similes to help describe the “calamity” (al-qāriʿa) through symbolic images. The image of people becoming like “moths scattered” conjures up ideas of confused dispersion, rapid movement and mortal frailty. The image of mountains becoming like “fluffs of wool” illustrates how a thing that many humans see as a symbol of solidity and permanence transforms on the last day into something that will be cut from its roots and pliable. The concept of scales of judgment appears graphically in this sūra, offering a concrete visual image of deeds being literally weighed in the balance on the last day. Michael Sells has argued that the sound quality of the consonants that end the verses (see rhymed prose) help to extend the similes “into more elaborate metaphors,” and that the terms “are heavy” (thaqulat) and “are light” (khaffat) as used in the scale imagery “have onomatopoetic effects” (Sells, Approaching, 178). This insight reminds us that when examining the symbolic imagery of the Qur’ān, not only visual images but also aural images (“sound figures”) help to generate layers of meaning that deserve scholarly attention.

Frederick S. Colby

Bibliography

Bint al-Shāṭiʾ (ʿĀʾisha ʿAbd al-Raḥmān), al-Tafsīr al-bayānī lil-Qur’ān, Cairo 1962

M. Lings, The Qoranic symbolism of water, in Studies in comparative religion 2 (1968), 153-60

T. Lohman, Die Gleichnisreden Muhammeds im Koran, in Mitteilungen des Instituts für Orientforschung [Berlin] 12 (1966), 75-118; 416-69

A. Neuwirth, Images and metaphors in the introductory sections of the Makkan sūras, in Hawting and Shareef, Approaches, 3-36

T. J. O'Shaughnessey, God's throne and the biblical symbolism of the Qurʾan, in Numen 20 (1973), 202-21

R. Paret, Symbolik des Islam, Stuttgart 1958, completed by J. Chr. Bürgel and Fr. Allemann, Symbolik des Islam, Stuttgart 1975

T. Sabbagh, La métaphore dans le Coran, Paris 1943

W. Saleh, Formation of the classical tafsīr tradition, Leiden 2004, 119-24

M. Sells, Approaching the Qur’ān. The early revelations, Ashland, OR 1999

id., Sound and meaning in Sūrat al-Qāriʿa, in Arabica 40 (1993), 403-30

M. Siddiqi, Who is who in the holy Qur’ān? Qur’ānic names and symbols, Lahore 1994

M. Sister, Metaphern und Vergleiche im Koran, in Mitteilungen des Seminars für Orientalische sprachen zu Berlin. 2 Abt. Westasiatische Studien 34 (1931), 103-54

H. Toelle, Le Coran revisité. Le feu, l'eau, l'air et la terre, Damascus 1999

B. Wardī, Ḥawla rumūz al-Qur’ān, Casablanca 1983

Watt-Bell, Introduction

Citation:

Colby, Frederick S. "Symbolic Imagery ." Encyclopaedia of the Qur’ān. General Editor: Jane Dammen McAuliffe, Georgetown University, Washington DC. Brill, 2006. Brill Online. Paul Nagy. 07 July 2006 <http://www.brillonline.nl/subscriber/entry?entry=q3_COM-00198>