The Hesitation that Created the World: Zurvan and the Shadows of Heidegger

Abstract This article explores a conceptual dialogue between two archetypes from distinct traditions: Martin Heidegger, the philosopher of Being and time in Western phenomenology, and Zurvan, the god of infinite time in ancient Iranian mythology. Tracing parallels between Heidegger’s notions of Dasein, temporality, and beingtoward-death, and Zurvan’s mythic themes of prayer, doubt, and the birth of duality, the paper presents Being not as a static state but as a temporal unfolding. Zurvan evolves from a mythical deity into a cosmic algorithm—an architecture of possibility. Doubt becomes a generative event, mirroring Heidegger’s death as the gateway to authenticity. Ultimately, the article proposes that the future of philosophy lies not in metaphysical certainty, but in the fertile silence of hesitation, and in rethinking Being from within time itself.