Time as a motif
The sacredness of time is explored by various metaphors throughout the Koran. Day and night are offered as symbols for the modality of life under Allah's supreme reign. One famous instance of this is Mohammad's trip to Jerusalem by night when he has to traverse considerable distances by night, trusting Allah for travel mercy and guidance. There are also metaphors from the passage of time in seasons, in the astrological timing of nature, and the passage of time is shown through plant growth, all explained as metaphorical reminders that Allah reigns.
Animals as a motif
Animal life is seen by the scriptures as symbols of Allah's creative power, because they are metaphors for essential aspects of the divine. There are metaphorical, poetic riddles about elephants, birds, beasts, and more spread across the various portions of the Koran. These are reminders that one should look to nature to experience the divine power that Allah offers to mankind. Mankind's own animal nature is observed indirectly throughout the book.
Mohammad as the sacred servant
Mohammad's own story is codified in the Koran as an sacred instance of what it looks like for a servant of Allah to follow Allah through life. In addition to the obvious stories, the symbolic cave, the prophet's revelation, the recitation of the Koran itself, and others, but there are also more. Together, these interspersed narratives help to form a metaphorical portrait of Mohammad's life as an instructional account of what it might look like to follow the call of Allah on a person's life. Together, they show Allah as the agent of fate.
The human body
The human body is offered as a field of symbols. The symbology is explored, from the sacred symbology of the heart space and the spine, to the tiny microscopic blood cell, the body is shown to be a metaphor for the intricacy and beauty of Allah's design. The prospect of healing through time is mentioned, as is the process of medicine. Science and knowledge are shown as aspects of the divine, and the Koran encourages its readers to honor Allah in their body.
Worship and adoration
The central motif of the book can be said to be worship and adoration. The book continually invokes the reader to praise Allah, to worship in wonder. These calls include the calls to prayer, the worshipful pilgrimage to Mecca, the participation in holy community, prostration, which means to lower one's face and torso to the ground or to lay on one's face, and even contemplation and meditation. Together these form a portrait of life as worship.
