LessonsClassifying Metaphor by Its Terms and Common Feature: Concordance, Opposition and InclusionQuiz

أَوَمَنْ كَانَ مَيْتًا فَأَحْيَيْنَاهُ
Is one who was dead and whom We gave life…?

Qur’an 6:122 uses the vocabulary of death and bringing to life to convey the move from misguidance to guidance. The expression aḥyaynāhu is not a claim that a physically deceased person was restored to life in this argumentative context; it conveys the bestowal of spiritual guidance.

The metaphor is classed as concordant because literal human life and the guidance described through “life” can coexist. Confusing the figurative spiritual condition with a literal physical resurrection would obscure the criterion the passage is being used to teach.

Opening interactive controls...

Reviving someone: the Qur’anic example

Classifying Metaphor by Its Terms and Common Feature: Concordance, Opposition and Inclusion

أَوَمَنْ كَانَ مَيْتًا فَأَحْيَيْنَاهُ
Is one who was dead and whom We gave life…?

Qur’an 6:122 uses the vocabulary of death and bringing to life to convey the move from misguidance to guidance. The expression aḥyaynāhu is not a claim that a physically deceased person was restored to life in this argumentative context; it conveys the bestowal of spiritual guidance.

The metaphor is classed as concordant because literal human life and the guidance described through “life” can coexist. Confusing the figurative spiritual condition with a literal physical resurrection would obscure the criterion the passage is being used to teach.