An Evaluation of Exegetic Opinions of the Shiites and Sunnis in Explaining the Object of “Ḥaq” and Discovering the Meaning of “Shahīd” in Verse 53 of al-Fussilat

Sunni and Shia exegetes are not aligned in their views regarding the meaning of verse 53 of the al-Fussilat Chapter, commonly known as the verse of Āfāq and Anfus (lit. horizons and souls, referring to the external world and the internal one of one’s soul). Therefore, the meanings of external signs, internal signs, the object of the words ḥaq (truth, reality) and shahīd (witness and, in other usages, martyr) in this verse are not clear. Considering the importance of divine intent regarding this verse, the present article claims that the way of these scattered views is to precisely explain the object of the word “ḥaq” and the consistency of the beginning of the verse with what follows. Thus, in this article, utilizing a critical-analytical method, and after presenting a jurisprudential classification of the different types of this relationship in the works of the exegetes, a new approach known as the criteria approach has been suggested. The results of the study show that the attribution of the Quran and its bringer to the “Lord of the Worlds” is a truth that can be traced through the polytheists of Hijaz through two independent albeit unequally ranked ways; one is through the presentation of external and internal signs and the other sufficient divine testimony on this subject. In this approach, the presentation of external and internal signs will be separate from the terminological and prevalent meaning arising from the Sufi-mystic movement.