The Qur’anic Meaning of al-Zaytūn: A Corpus-Based Semantic, Semiotic, and Stylistic Analysis

Abstract

This study examines the Qur’anic mentions of olives through a semiotic, semantic, and stylistic approach supported by a digital corpus. The Quranic Arabic Corpus (QAC) was searched for the root z-y-t, and each retrieved token was recorded by its position, surface form, and verse context, then cross-checked against the Uthmani text of Tanzil v1.1. The search yielded seven tokens across six verses: five categorized as zaytūn, one as zaytūnat, and one oil-related token, zaytuhā. Of these seven tokens, six referring to an olive or olive tree were treated as primary data, while zaytuhā in QS 24:35, which refers to the oil associated with the olive tree, was retained as contextual data rather than counted as an additional mention of the olive. In four of the six verses, olives appear in contexts involving water, plant growth, crops, food, or harvest; QS 24:35 places the olive tree within the parable of light, while QS 95:1 includes the olive in an expression of oath. The ecological reading identifies three relationships supported by the verses and relevant interpretations: the dependence of plant growth on water and natural processes, the role of agricultural produce in meeting human and livestock needs, and the prohibition of excess in the context of agricultural use and harvesting. These relationships are interpreted as resonating with contemporary notions of sustainability, rather than as the lexical meaning of the word olive or as an ecological doctrine explicitly stated by the verses.