Abd; The Significant Metaphor in Quranic Anthropology

This article argues that the “Man as Abd” metaphor in Quranic expressions about human situation, has a significant role in framing the cultural attributes of Islamic discourses. After introducing the cognitive value of metaphors, I have discussed anthropologically the semantic elements of the Lord-Abd relation as a social institution and then discussed the semantics of Abd metaphor in Quran. Then I have examined the systemacity of this metaphor in the structure of Quranic concepts and its coherence. In the last part I have discussed the historical background of the metaphor as well as the historical evolution of semantic elements of this metaphor in Islamic tradition.