فاطمه قربانی لاکتراشانی

Metaphor, as a part of humans’ verbal communication, is naturally used in the language of religion. Directional metaphors are formed based on the main directions as the original domain and are related to the concepts that indicate the direction and spatial location. Directional metaphors allocate spatial meanings to concepts and thus convey meaning based on humans’ sensory and cultural experiences. The present article employs a descriptive-analytical method to investigate the linguistic aspects of the directional metaphor of the word “qurb” (nearness to Allah) in the Quran, and makes this metaphysical concept understandable in the human mind through referring to its empirical and physical backgrounds. Spatial or local directions, as well as geometric illustrations, create a new understanding for humans. Although the Quran has used several words and phrases to convey the meaning in the application of the directional metaphors, the present study examines the directional metaphors of the word “qurb” (nearness to Allah). In the end, it is concluded that the directional metaphors used for this word are behind and in front, up and down, center and margin, as well as inside and outside.

Examining the meaning of the words in the Qur'an plays a significant and special role in understanding the purpose of God and the precise application of divine commands. Semantics of the Qur'an is a methodical interpretation of the subject that, if based on the principles of the Qur'an, is able to present the meaning of words to mankind in the form of a divine worldview and explain it. Also the theory of semantic domain is very helpful in studying the semantic structure of words of any language and explaining the semantic limits of its lexical elements, because every word adopts a part of its meaning from other words of the same domain. The word "Sawwal" is one of the words that are used 4 times in the Quran. Examining words that have a low frequency in Quranic use will be able to be accurately understood only through semantic methods. One of these methods is constructive semantics, which will help to solve the problem of semantic analysis through the examination of lexical co-occurrence and substitution. Study the verses through constructivist semantics has made a great contribution to understand the divine meaning and purpose of the use of words, and it has been considered as an effective method in religious research. Examining the companionship and succession of the intended words in the Qur'an reveals the semantic areas related to the words and specifies the way of communication with each of the areas. The current research has discussed and investigated the word "Sawwal" with the aim of semantics in the semantic fields on the axes of companionship and succession. Semantic fields mean a set of words that have common semantic components. Therefore, in order to distinguish this type of words (having common semantic components) have been used the axes of companionship - verbal chain that are placed together - and succession - the connection of linguistic elements in the verbal chain with non-existent elements in that chain that can be placed Instead of any of the existing elements. Using the method of description and analysis, the present research has analyzed the word "Sawwal" in the Qur'an. The word "Sawwal" which in the dictionary analysis means seducing and adorning, has commonalities with many semantic fields. This word is used in the Qur'an to warn the audience and warns the believers about the possibility of falling into the trap of adorning. This word has been used in four verses, from "Tafʻīl" pattern which emphasizes plurality and gradualness, and it is in conjunction with the words "al-Shayṭān" and "Nafs". Therefore, in order to analyze the semantic fields involved with the word "Sawwal", investigated its substitutes, which include the words "Zayyin", "Iḍlāl", "Ighwā", "Nazgh" and "Vasvasah", and at the end, as result It was found that function of "al-Shayṭān" for "Taswīl" is to make religious affairs seem unimportant, which makes people dare to commit sins and ugly deeds. But "Nafs" is tool of "al-Shayṭān" for "Taswīl". The word "Zayyin" with the highest frequency in the relationship of succession with "Sawwal" emphasizes this fact that Satan adorns sin in the eyes of human. The word "Iḍlāl", like the word "Taswīl", uses the existential container of "Nafs" in the direction of deviating from guidance. "Nazgh" is the reason for strengthening the motivation of man to commit evil deeds, and "Waswasah" is the reason for his internal boiling in the process of "Taswīl". "Ighwāʼ" also, in the role of succession, intensifies the adorning which causes believable move toward sins. Therefore, the meaning that can be inferred from the interpretations and lexicographers of the word "S W L" is found in concepts such as "Adorning" and "Decorating", "Facilitating" and "Making easy", "Pretending" and "Making good". In Qur'anic research with the constructivist style, after examining the vocabulary and understanding the relationship between them and considering the lexical context, the overall structure and relationship between the words can be obtained. In the end, this method has been implemented in the figure (1) and has shown the way of semantic communication. The use of meaning in the recognition of words such as "Sawwal" can be effective in his attitude and lifestyle. For example, the role of the "Devil" and the "Nafs" in man's interpretation can be effective on self-control and change in his behavior. This is despite the fact that the understanding of this intellectual system could not be fully realized without a semantic view.

The Holy Quran has used the word "Inda" many times to convey its meanings. In its initial meaning, this word encodes the concept of "with", but in all cases, the use of this word is not limited to this meaning in the Quran, and being placed in different contexts, it shows news conceptual metaphors, amd in most verses, this word has the same meaning of "Inda". The present study descriptively-analytically examines the conceptual metaphors of the word "Inda" in the Holy Quran and its equivalent translations to determine the extent to which the translations of Fooladvand, Mousavi Hamedani, Khorramshahi, Elahi Qomshei are close to its metaphorical meaning. It is concluded that the selection of equal metaphorical concepts for "Inda" has been difficult for translators and it has been limited to conventional equivalent expression. Conceptual metaphors used by the word "Inda" in the Holy Quran include divine judgment, certainty/maintenance, knowledge, and ownership, from (assignment of lordship), proximity, Qurb (closeness), and Fi (in). By examining the translation of 23 verses of the research on the metaphorical meanings of the word "Inda", Khorramshahi’s translation has used more metaphorical concepts in translation than other translations.