Document Type : Original
Authors
1 PhD Student in Quranic and Hadith Sciences, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran
2 Associate Professor, Department of Quranic and Hadith Sciences, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran
Abstract
The term “dukhān” appears in the Qur’an in two fundamentally cosmological contexts: the initial stage of genesis (Fuṣṣilat/41:11), describing the primordial state of the heavens, and the final stage (al-Dukhān/44:10), as a sign of eschatological punishment or transformation. These distinct usages have generated diverse and occasionally divergent exegetical interpretations. Employing a descriptive-analytical and comparative approach, this study examines the nature of dukhān across exegetical views and explores the relationship between these two domains. Findings indicate that interpretations of dukhān in the initial cosmological context follow three main approaches: “narrative-naturalistic,” “theological-philosophical,” and “scientific-comparative.” In the final context, five perspectives emerge: “historical,” “eschatological,” “esoteric,” “mystical,” and “pluralistic.” Despite the diversity of interpretive referents, dukhān within the Qur’anic semantic system follows a unified teleological pattern. In both domains it functions threshold-like and transformatively—at the beginning, as a symbol of transition from non-existence or indeterminacy to ontological order; at the end, as a marker of transition from worldly order to eschatological collapse. With regard to contextual coherence, the scientific-comparative approach to primordial dukhān and the eschatological approach to final dukhān exhibit greater alignment with the textual and cosmological implications of the Qur’an. Accordingly, primordial and eschatological dukhān may be viewed as two manifestations of a single reality, each signifying the boundary-marking and transformative role of this concept in the architecture of existence. This conclusion not only reconciles the two seemingly disparate usages but also reveals the coherent cosmological vision underlying the Qur’anic worldview.
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