The Holy Qur’an, as a revealed and foundational text in Islamic culture, offers substantial potential for linguistic and semantic inquiry. A precise examination of Qur’anic vocabulary, particularly terms carrying conceptual and ritual significance, plays a crucial role in elucidating the text’s semantic layers. The terms Ghudū and Āṣāl, along with their derivatives, occur a total of twenty-three times in the Holy Qur’an. Given their direct association with the concepts of worship, remembrance of God, and glorification, an investigation into their semantic development is warranted. Employing a descriptive-analytical method and drawing on Izutsu’s semantic network theory, this study seeks to explicate the position of these two terms within the Qur’anic conceptual system. First, through reference to classical lexicographical sources, the etymology and pre-Qur’anic meanings of these terms were examined. In literary texts and classical poetry, Ghudū denotes the beginning of the morning and the commencement of daily activity, whereas Āṣāl signifies the end of the day and the onset of night. The subsequent stage analyzes the use of these terms in the context of Qur’anic verses and investigates their syntagmatic relations and semantic oppositions with the terms sabbaḥa (to glorify), dhikr (remembrance), and sajd (prostration). The findings demonstrate that, by transferring these terms from an exclusively temporal semantic domain to a ritual and spiritual one, the Qur’an transforms them into markers of constancy in worship and the remembrance of God. Within Izutsu’s theoretical framework, Ghudū and Āṣāl function as key terms in this semantic network, while Sabbaḥa, dhikr, and Sajada serve as focal terms. Ultimately, this conceptual network reflects the formation of a Qur’anic conception of “continuous and trans-temporal worship,” establishing a meaningful relationship among time, human beings, and servitude to God.
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