"Insan" and "mar'" in the qur'An: Between metaphysical essence and moral personhood

Abstract

The Qur'an speaks about the human being (and to him) using several terms such as insan (human), nas (people), banu Adam (children of Adam), nafs (soul), expressions for which we can easily find counterparts in other languages. However, it also uses another word that is almost untranslatable, and has not yet been sufficiently studied, namely mar'. This study focuses on the Qur'anic use of the latter word, in order to demonstrate that it is the word that comes closest to the modern meaning of "person"in terms of an ethical being. First, we will define the modern meaning of "person"in the sense that it is an ethical being with an identity, responsibility and dignity. Subsequently, we show how the word insan in the Qur'an does not express this meaning, since it is loaded with connotations that are more metaphysical than moral. After this negating aspect, the affirmative part of the study begins by arguing that the contexts in which the word mar' appears in the Qur'an actually asserts the meaning of "person"as a responsible ethical being. This meaning primarily bears a semantic nucleus of the term from pre-Islamic poetry, which we will have to outline first, revolving around the idea of an individual being that is aware of the inevitability of its death; and secondly, is enriched with the meanings of personal dignity that are encompassed in the term chivalry. We conclude the article with a brief comparison between the words mar' and nafs in the Qur'an to clarify what distinguishes the first from the second in terms of unity and distinct identity regarding the concept of "person."