Santos: Ayas

God is portrayed and also kept away from being portrayed through the use of signs. These signs (ay6s) include polarities, which create a sense of unity and surround the image of God with a totality of all the structures of the universe. One way the Qur'an develops this notion of opposites is through the use of gender pronouns. The Qur'an develops an idea that God cannot be personified as a male being but is in fact all beings combined.

In the Sura, "THE SUN," polarities are very prominent. For example some of these opposites include, the sun and moon, the day and night, and the sky and earth. The Sura says the sun brightens as the sky follows, the day displays as the night veils, and the sky constructs as the earth shapes. The usage of these polarities generates a sense of totality of the descriptions, creating an image of a unified whole. The Sura states that a soul "reveals her debased"; a word describing a lowered character, as well as it "reveals her faithful." Whoever "honors her flourishes" and whoever "defiles her fails." This other use of opposites (debased/faithful) (honors/defiles) (flourishes /fails) also builds an image of a divine being that is beyond specific characteristics and yet completes them all.

This Sura grammatically indicates the Sun as "her". It uses the lines to describe her natural beauty but never really creates enough of an image to portray an actual female. This ambiguity keeps the reader in a state of confusion guessing at the true identity of this divine being. The use of opposites helps in the unsure reaction of the reader, which keeps a sense of ideal mystery surrounding the figure. The polarities are written in the order of masculine to feminine (sun/moon) (day/night). This use of gender image constantly reinforces that no gender is more highlighted than another, each is equally used protecting the idea of the indefinite personification of God.

Sura 87, "The Most High," portrays God on a pedestal, which is evident in its title. This worshipped image is managed through commonly used ayas or signs. Opposites are arrayed throughout the Sura to form the idea that God is an unreachable figure. The first five lines of the Sura show the cooperation of the opposites to form an admirable symbol. For example God "creates" and "forms", "grows" and then "destroys". Allah is the maker of life who is a trustworthy guide through the paths of hardship but also is the destroyer that can demolish your world. This Being is a model of an all-knowing deity that knows all "declared" and all that "lies hidden". God can hear what is spoken and also knows what you think is being kept secret. God is a unified figure that brings all characteristics together and combines them to produce an image of an ultimate idea of God.
Each line of the Sura "The Most High," begins with the word "Who," one "who creates" and one "who destroys". The use of this word leaves the spiritual being unknown and unpersonified. This affect is accomplished by using different pronouns to describe the same image. Often you will find that the pronouns he, she, it, and we are all used to describe God. By using these pronouns at random the identity of God is never portrayed enough to take on any gender specific image of its own.

God is more than everything; he is all the polarities, their similarities and their differences combined. Allah is the sun, moon, sky, and earth, Allah watches over everything and created all that is being watched over. The ayas help in the interpretation of God because without these opposite images and all that is in between, God would become a personified image; but by creating a picture of both night and day, male and female one can believe that God is above it all. God is the immortal deity that is part of every being therefore no one can create one image that he fits into because it is more than an image, she is a God.