Assistant Professor, Department of Theology, University of Kurdistan, sanandaj. Iran
10.22034/sshq.2026.584047.1642
Abstract
This research aims to explain the organic cohesion of Surah Al-Shams and provide an analytical response to the perceived structural discontinuity between cosmic oaths, self-purification, and the narrative of the Thamud people. For this purpose, Michael Riffaterre’s textual semiotics was employed; this theory, by distinguishing between referential meaning and literary significance, views the apparent textual gaps as ungrammaticalities (semantic violators) that stimulate the reader’s mind during a retroactive reading. The fourfold findings indicate that the text, through these stimuli, guides the reader from linear reading toward the realm of secondary significance. In this reading, the lexical architecture of the Surah is formulated based on two opposing accumulations of "light" and "darkness," which provides a ground for transferring the visual characteristics of nature to the hidden behaviors of the soul. Accordingly, the entire Surah is a textual derivation of an underlying abstract matrix titled The Irreconcilable Antithesis between Existential Manifestation (Light) and Rebellious Subversion (Darkness). This process explains the semiotic equivalence between Naqat-Allah and the human soul; thus, it appears that the hamstringing of the camel (aqr) is an objective representation of tadsiyah (obscuring the soul), and the punishment of Thamud (damdamah) serves as a historical explanation for internal loss. By explaining the Surah's cohesion purely through textuality, this research demonstrates the efficacy of modern literary criticism in representing the structural inimitability (I'jaz) of the Holy Quran.
Salahshoor,A . (2026). Textual Semiotics of Surah Al-Shams: Rereading the Process of Significance Based on Riffaterre’s Retroactive Theory. (e250600). Stylistics Studies of the Holy Quran, (), e250600 doi: 10.22034/sshq.2026.584047.1642
MLA
Salahshoor,A . "Textual Semiotics of Surah Al-Shams: Rereading the Process of Significance Based on Riffaterre’s Retroactive Theory" .e250600 , Stylistics Studies of the Holy Quran, , , 2026, e250600. doi: 10.22034/sshq.2026.584047.1642
HARVARD
Salahshoor A. (2026). 'Textual Semiotics of Surah Al-Shams: Rereading the Process of Significance Based on Riffaterre’s Retroactive Theory', Stylistics Studies of the Holy Quran, (), e250600. doi: 10.22034/sshq.2026.584047.1642
CHICAGO
A Salahshoor, "Textual Semiotics of Surah Al-Shams: Rereading the Process of Significance Based on Riffaterre’s Retroactive Theory," Stylistics Studies of the Holy Quran, (2026): e250600, doi: 10.22034/sshq.2026.584047.1642
VANCOUVER
Salahshoor A. Textual Semiotics of Surah Al-Shams: Rereading the Process of Significance Based on Riffaterre’s Retroactive Theory. Stylistics Studies of the Holy Quran. 2026;():e250600 (In Persian). doi: 10.22034/sshq.2026.584047.1642