LessonsRhetorical Addition: Emphasis, Explanatory Coordination, Connections and Multiple MeaningsQuiz

«أَمْ خُلِقُوا مِنْ غَيْرِ شَيْءٍ أَمْ هُمُ الْخَالِقُونَ»
“Were they created without a creator, or are they themselves the creators?” (al-Ṭūr 52:35; contextual explanation of “min ghayri shayʾ”)

“Shayʾ” is an extremely broad noun, but “from without anything” appears here next to a question about whether people are their own creators. The argumentative context directs attention to the cause and agent of creation.

Explaining the phrase as “without a creator” conveys the force of the passage; it should not be presented as a universal dictionary definition of “shayʾ.” This is how syntactic setting narrows a broad term for a specific interpretive purpose.

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“Shayʾ”: a broad word interpreted through its construction

Rhetorical Addition: Emphasis, Explanatory Coordination, Connections and Multiple Meanings

«أَمْ خُلِقُوا مِنْ غَيْرِ شَيْءٍ أَمْ هُمُ الْخَالِقُونَ»
“Were they created without a creator, or are they themselves the creators?” (al-Ṭūr 52:35; contextual explanation of “min ghayri shayʾ”)

“Shayʾ” is an extremely broad noun, but “from without anything” appears here next to a question about whether people are their own creators. The argumentative context directs attention to the cause and agent of creation.

Explaining the phrase as “without a creator” conveys the force of the passage; it should not be presented as a universal dictionary definition of “shayʾ.” This is how syntactic setting narrows a broad term for a specific interpretive purpose.