Formulation of the claim
The meanings of Al-Fatiha are not exhausted in a single interpretation, nor confined to a final reading that closes off its possibility.
Explanation
The author affirms that Al-Fatiha does not close within a completed signification, because its structures remain open to multiple determinations. It thus appears here as an open symbolic field, not as a phrase with a single settled meaning.
Its place in the book’s argument
This idea serves Arkoun’s objection to the reading that imprisons the surah in a fixed meaning; it highlights the Qur’anic text’s capacity to generate meaning rather than being reduced to a final answer.
What the atom does not say
It does not deny the existence of an initial meaning or a devotional context for the surah, but it rejects confining it to a single interpretation that cuts off the possibility of plurality.