An Introduction to Semiotics and Ontological, Epistemological and Classicological Manifestations of Divine Names in World and Humans

To assess the feasibility of the classification of the Divine Names mentioned in Qur’an, Nahj al-Balagha and Mafatih al-Jinan  according to their forms and meanings.

The present research is a basic, library-based research whose instrument consists of critical thinking and a comparison of religious texts.

Results indicate that so-called microcosm and macrocosm are not two separate worlds. Classification of the Divine Names and the ontological manifestations of divine blessings and emanations on the created beings (creature) can be served as a guide to discovering and understanding the truths in the world for those who believe in God. Of these kinds of classifications proposed by the current research is classifying the Divine Names into positive and negative attributes/names of God, classifying according to divine generation (or creation or genesis) and legislation, classifying the Divine Names/Attributes into God-specific attributes and common attributes between God and human, classifying them into simple (non-compound) Names and compound Names, and into entity-denoting Names and process-denoting Names.

Originality/value:

There are many studies on the Divine Names in mysticism, Sufism, and sometimes ethics, but there is yet no classification of the Divine Names according to their attribution to knowledge and science factors. This paper can be regarded as a beginning for further research in this area