Light’ as a Source Domain for Metaphors in the Holy Quran

Abstract

Conceptual Metaphor Theory (CMT) sees metaphor as a means to conceptualize abstracts in everyday discourse employing concrete. This research investigates the use of “Light” (Nur in Arabic) metaphorically as a source domain to several concepts (target domains) in the Quran, for instance, “THE QURAN IS LIGHT”. The study explores the power of metaphor in non-literary discourse relying on Conceptual Metaphor Theory and its hypotheses. Additionally, it will identify the target domains to which light is used as a source domain. Furthermore, it will examine whether ‘Light’ has been used as a target domain or it is a unidirectional relation that made it a source domain only in all the occurrences in the Quran. For the purpose of this study, the researchers used a descriptive-analytical approach in discourse analysis. Metaphor Identification Procedure (MIP) is used as a tool for checking metaphor. The search in the sacred text resulted in (43) occurrences of the word ‘Nur.’ This research proved that metaphor of light is used ubiquitously and creatively to explain different crucial concepts in the Quran.