The Use of Deixis in

English Translation of
Holy Quran in The
First Two Chapters
Mohammad Paknezhad and Dr. Mahmoud Nagizadeh
Abstract
This study aimed to describe the kind of deixis on
Holy Quran
It investigates the use of deixis including the form and
the reference of deixis.
This is a descriptive analysis research.
The data used in this investigation is elicited from
English Holy Quran translated by M.H. Shakir.
There are 3 kind of deixis found in this study.
Introduction
The Quran Al Majid or the Glorious Quran is the word
of Allah as revealed to His prophet Muhammmad
PBUH.
Al Quran, literally meaning the recitation, is the
central religious text of Islam which Muslims believe
to be a revelation from God. The Quran is basically a
book of guidance.
Deixis makes a precise interpretation of the message.
Research questions:
1. Is deixis an evident phenomenon in the Holy
Quran?
2. What classifications are used to achieve deixis
Significance of the Study
There is a fact that only very little research has been
conducted on the study of deixis in English translation
of Holy Quran.
This study analyses two divisions (Surah) in the first
two chapters that comprises of the Opening division
(Al-Fateehah) and the Cow division (Al-Baqarah).
The former has a special role in daily prayers being
recited at the beginning of each unit of prayer and the
latter is the longest division of the Quran.
Research Method

This research uses descriptive approach with several

number of procedures
1. Gathering the data usage of deixis
2. Identifying and classifying the data usage of deixis
3. Analyzing the data usage of deixis
4. Making the conclusion of the data usage of deixis
The data was taken from M.H. Shakir translations of
Holy Quran
 Research Findings
Person Deixis
a)First Person (singular pronouns)
1. And when your Lord said to the Angels, I am going to place in the
earth a khalif, .. (Al-Baqarah, 5:30)
2. He said: Did I not say to you that I surely know what is ghaib in the
heavens and the earth and (that) I know what you manifest and
what you hide? (Al-Baqarah, 5:33)

b) First Person (plural pronouns)

3. So We made them an example to those who witnessed it .. (Al-
Baqarah, 66)
4. And when We made a covenant with you and raised the mountain
over you: (Al-Baqarah, 93)
 In the Holy Quran, Allah use the first person deixis of
we in the certain cases for several reasons.
1. Used to express the might and majesty of Allah
2. Used for his absolute supremacy over man
3. Used for his supremacy and control over thing
which men have no control

Try to compare with this one:

They said: We hear and disobey. And they were made to
imbibe (the love of) the calf into their hearts on account
of their unbelief (Al-Baqarah, 93)
c) Second Person
1. O Adam! Dwell you and your wife in the garden and eat
from it a plenteous (food) wherever you wish and do not
approach this tree .. (Al-Baqarah, 35)
2. Get forth, some of you being the enemies of others, and
there is for you in the earth (Al-Baqarah, 36)

d) Third Person
3.He said: O Adam! inform them of their names.Then when
he had informed them of their names, (Al-Baqarah, 33)
4. And when Musa said to his people: Surely Allah commands
you that you should sacrifice a cow; they said: Do you
ridicule us? He said: I seek the protection of Allah from being
one of the ignorant. (Al-Baqarah, 67)
Research Findings
Place Deixis
Place deixis is deictic reference to a location relative to
the location of a participant in the speech event.
1. Say: Surely Allah's guidance, that is the (true)
guidance. And if you follow their desires after the
knowledge that has come to you, you shall have no
guardian from Allah, nor any helper. (Al-Baqarah, 120)
2. Does one of you like that he should have a garden of
palms and vines with streams flowing beneath it; he
has in it all kinds of fruits; (Al-Baqarah, 266)
Research Findings

Time Deixis
1. .. So when he had crossed it, he and those who
believed with him, they said: We have today no power
against Jalut and his forces. (Al-Baqarah, 249)
2. And there are some people who say: We believe in Allah
and the last day; and they are not at all believers. (Al-
Baqarah, 8)
3. He said: Surely I know what you do not know. (Al-
Baqarah, 30)
Conclusions

In accordance with the investigation findings, the

elicited data shows that deixis theory used in the Holy
Quran are person, time, and place deixis.
Person deixis dominates the whole data gained from
this divisions because person deixis has a crucial role
in the text.