Sūrah al-Wāqiʿah
Observations on the structure and organization of Sūrah al-Wāqiʿah
﷽
Sūrah al-Wāqiʿah (The Inevitable Event) is probably most famous for the virtue associated with it. It is recorded that the companion Ibn ʿAbbās said, “Whoever reads Sūrah al-Wāqiʿah every night will never be struck by poverty.”1
We previously studied this sūrah’s relationship with Sūrah ar-Raḥmān in detail, which we will link below:
Looking at this sūrah on its own, we find that it may be observed to be laid out in a ring structure.2
Connections
[A]/[A’]
The sūrah opens with the declaration of the impending “Inevitable Event" which “cannot be denied.” A day when Allah ﷻ will display His awesome might by raising some, debasing others and reducing mountains to complete ashes. The sūrah concludes by reminding the audience that “this [message] is, no doubt, an undeniable truth,” so we should, “praise the name of [our] Almighty Master.”
[B]/[B’]
The sūrah then transitions into the three groups that people will be separated into on the Day of Judgment. People will either be of the “first and foremost,” “those of the Right,” or “those of the Left,” with each group being worse off than the last.
Their stations are explained and detailed, then reiterated again towards the end of the sūrah in the same order. As such, Sections [B] and [B’] parallel each other in their outlining of the three groups.
[C]/[C’]
Both sections ask rhetorical questions to the disbelievers to underline their powerlessness and lack of contemplation. Did you create yourselves? Do you provide for yourselves? Do you make rain come down? Did you create wood to fuel your fires? Do you take this discourse lightly? Do you, in return for your livelihood, deny it? Can you return the soul as it leaves the body? The answer to all these questions is an unquestionable, “No.”
[D]
At the center of the sūrah is the Quran and its nobility. The Quran is beautifully described as a revelation from the Master of all creations, preserved and only touched by the pure.
And Allah knows best - والله أعلم
Sources
مَنْ قَرَأَ سُورَةَ الْوَاقِعَةِ كُلَّ لَيْلَةٍ، لَمْ تُصِبْهُ فَاقَةٌ أَبَدًا - Recorded in the Tafsīr al-Qur’ān al-ʿAẓīm of Ibn Kathīr (https://tafsir.app/ibn-katheer/56/1)
These structures are adapted, with slight modification, from: Farrin, Raymond. Structure and Quranic Interpretation: a Study of Symmetry and Coherence in Islams Holy Text. White Cloud Press, 2014.