We begin with a key Quranic term, āyah, which we – almost always – translate as ‘verse’ in the Muslim scripture. However, this word also means ‘sign’ and herein emerges the crucial metaphysical node in our discourse. We find the following verse in (41:53): “We shall show them Our āyāt [signs/verses] in the horizons and in their own selves until it is clear to them that this is the truth.” But which meaning of āyāt (sg. āyah) is intended here: ‘verse’ or ‘sign’? Precisely both at the same time, because these two renditions are inseparable and intimately related.
