The Grammar of Emotion Verbs in the Qur'ān: A Case Study of the verb Xāfa

Yehudit Dror, Salam Saied, Bayan Amara

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

The concept of emotions has been studied from numerous perspectives in psychology, the history of emotions and religion. This study sheds light on the linguistic devices implemented to articulate emotions in the Qurān by taking the emotion verb xāfa 'to fear' or 'to be afraid' (and its derivatives) as a case study. In both modern and classical dictionaries of the Arabic language as well as in Quranic exegesis, the verb xāfa is often replaced by another verb that expresses fear such as xašiya 'to be afraid' or 'to be in awe'. Here it is shown that the verb xāfa occurs in certain syntactic structures and has specific meanings that are not denoted by other verbs expressing fear in the Qurān. Specifically, when the verb xāfa is followed by a subordinate clause that starts with the particle 'an, it can be rendered as 'to fear' or 'to be afraid' since the cause of this fear is a probable event. When the verb xāfa is followed by the preposition 'alā it denotes 'to fear for [the wellbeing of] someone (e.g., a family member)' because of a situation in which they are likely to be found. When it is followed by the noun rabb 'Lord' or Allāh 'God', the verb refers to 'fear of God', where fear of His punishment motivates the people to worship Him. When the verbal noun xawf has no object and is used in conjunction with the verbal noun 'amn ('security') it can be interpreted as 'insecurity about something'. Because the verb xāfa is central to the religious concept of fear of God, it is used in the Qurān to express a general and collective attitude of fear or awe. However, xāfa is also used to express individual experiences of fright at specific times or places.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)869-896
Number of pages28
JournalJournal of Semitic Studies
Volume69
Issue number2
StatePublished - 2024

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2024 The author. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the University of Manchester. All rights reserved.

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Cultural Studies
  • Language and Linguistics
  • History
  • Religious studies
  • Linguistics and Language
  • Literature and Literary Theory

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