Sūrah al-Ikhlāṣ (Qul Huwa Allahu Aḥad)
Observations on how Sūrah al-Ikhlāṣ is organized in the Quran
Sūrah al-Ikhlāṣ (Sincerity) is one of the most oft-recited suwar in the Quran by Muslims around the world. Though it is one of the shortest suwar, its contents succinctly summarize the uncompromising monotheism of Islam.
When observed more closely, it appears that the sūrah may be organized into a single ring structure as follows:
Connections
Section A/A’
The sūrah begins with the central call of Islam; Allah ﷻ is “One”, unique in His singularity [A]. This is in contrast to the lowercase “one” being referenced at the end of the sūrah who is simply one of many lesser beings [A’].
Section B/B’
Following the declaration of monotheism, Allah ﷻ informs us that He is needed by all, while at the same time, needing no one else [B]. Unlike Allah ﷻ, all of creation can never be equal to Him with our deficiencies and needs [B’].
Section C/C’
Finally, the sūrah centers on an important theological point that Allah ﷻ never has, and never will, take part in any type of birthing process. This furthers the points made in the outer sections as this makes Him unique to all living creatures, without comparison.
وَاللّهُ أَعلَم - And Allah knows best
Sources
Personal notes and research
Salam again brother,
I was just thinking more on Surah Ikhlas in terms of a linear message also....of course Allah knows best but I see an additional message as follows....
[Qul, huwaallahu Ahad] Allah is one...the one-ness is not just a one-ness as in number like Wahid but a one-ness in essence and thus Allah cannot be further deconstructed like into Trinity or anything else
Thus, implicitly Allah cannot be trinity but to reinforce this message, [Allahu al-Samad] Allah is al-Samad and
al-Samad denotes multiple meanings but one is solidness and not being hollow in anyway...thus again, Allah is solidly the same and thus cannot be deconstructed as in Trinity or anything else
Explicitly this means Allah does not give birth to anything [Lam yalid], thus only Allah is Divine and God, nothing else can be even partly divine for Allah is solid and remains as such...He does not issue anything out of Him to be external of Him to become hollow....Allah therefore remains solid
But did Allah himself come from anything?
No, [Lam yalid] ....Allah was not born...Allah was always there....Allah did not begin
But can there be other beings like Allah as if Allah is Allah of this universe and there are other beings in similar way to other universes
No, [wa lam yakun lahu kufuwan Ahad]
Nothing is like Allah...there is no other entity like Allah.....and also no one is one in the same way that Allah is one....for everything can be deconstructed but Allah is One in a way beyond number
Allah knows best.
Again this interpretation is separate from my previous message below of another way to demonstrate ring structure.
Thanks for letting me to share.
wassalam,
Omer
Salam brother. Very nice. Alhamdullilah. I was thinking about this surah after I read Raymond Farrin's book and I think Surah Ikhlas can also be arranged as follows:
A Qul huwallah Ahad
B Allahu Al Samad
C lam yalid
B' wa lam yulad
A' wa lam yakum lahu kufuwan Ahad
B relates to Allah being eternal in the future which is one of the additional meanings of Al-Samad and B' relates to Allah being eternal in the past....since Allah was not born, He did not originate and thus He was eternal in the past.
A, A', B, B' talk about Allah and the center talks about how there is nothing that comes out of Allah.
So the surah is solidly about Allah. And one of the meanings of Al-Samad is without any hollowness but solid throughout.
I think some of the ring structures just have one letter like C in the middle (not with any C' but just a pivot on a central message at C).
wassalam,
Omer Abid