Analyzing the Impact of Cultural Context on Conceptual Metaphors of the Domain of Satan in the Holy Qur’an: A Cognitive and Historical Approach

Articles in Press

Document Type : مقالات علمی پژوهشی

Authors
F. fattahizadeh 1
F. Abadi 2
1 Professor, Department of Quran Science and Hadith, Al-Zahra University, Tehran, Iran
2 Postdoctoral Researcher Department of Quran Science and Hadith, Al-Zahra University, Tehran, Iran & member of the Quranic and hadith interdisciplinary studies research group
10.48311/LRR.75027
Abstract
This study, drawing on Conceptual Metaphor Theory and its cultural extension as developed by Zoltán Kövecses, analyzes the conceptual metaphors of Satan in the Qur’an. It aims to demonstrate how the lived experiences and cultural structures of the Arabs during the time of revelation contributed to the conceptualization of Satan as a wholly abstract entity. To this end, a corpus of 47 Qur’anic verses containing culturally grounded metaphors related to Satan was compiled and analyzed. The findings reveal that the source domains of war, the tradition of javār (protection), companionship and social interaction, and the notions of servant and captive function as culturally significant domains in metaphorically conceptualizing Satan. Among these, the jār tradition is uniquely tied to the cultural context of pre-Islamic Arab society, and while the war domain is broadly recognized across cultures, it still bears culture-specific features. In contrast, the domains of companionship and servitude are more universally understood. Each domain frames Satan in a distinct manner: as a defeated commander, a treacherous protector, an abusive companion, and a powerless laborer before God’s will. These metaphorical representations—rooted in human experience in general and that of the early Arab audience in particular—effectively deconstruct Satan’s false aura and portray submission to him as undesirable and reprehensible

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