Sūrah az-Zalzalah and Sūrah al-ʿĀdiyāt
Observations on the structural relationship between Sūrah az-Zalzalah and Sūrah al-ʿĀdiyāt
Sūrah az-Zalzalah (The Earthquake) and Sūrah al-ʿĀdiyāt (The Chargers) are the 99th and 100th suwar in the Quran, respectively. They also seem to form a complimentary pair.
Sūrah az-Zalzalah
Sūrah az-Zalzalah focuses on the shock and awe that will occur at the onset of Judgment Day. When viewed on its own, it appears that the sūrah forms a ring structure:
Summarized another way, it may simply be seen as:
The sūrah begins with the massive upheaval that will occur with regards to the Earth. It will shake so violently that mankind will ask in wonder, “What is wrong with it?!”
The sūrah ends on a similar note, but this time mankind is in shock because of the precision and details that are being brought out with regards to their deeds. All deeds, not matter how small, will be presented for accounting.
Sūrah al-ʿĀdiyāt
Sūrah al-ʿĀdiyāt has a similar message to Sūrah az-Zalzalah in that they both implore the reader to focus on the Day of Judgment. When viewed on its own, Sūrah al-ʿĀdiyāt appears to form its own ring structure:
Summarized another way, it may simply be seen as:
Based on this structuring, we see that there is a contrast with the morning raid of the horse riders and the “raid” of the angels as they come down and unearth the humans and what their hearts conceal. This sūrah also continues a motif that runs throughout the Quran, which is that divine retribution comes in the morning. This makes the pairing of [C] and [C’] doubly appropriate.
Parallels
When juxtaposed with one another, the themes of the two suwar seem to form a complimentary parallel:
والله أعلم - And Allah knows best
Sources
Ali Khan, Nouman. “01. Az-Zalzalah (Ayah 1-8) - A Concise Commentary” Bayyinah TV, https://bayyinahtv.com/topics/1/categories/9/series/194/videos/1987
Ali Khan, Nouman. “1. Al-'Adiyat (Ayah 1-11) - A Concise Commentary” Bayyinah TV, https://bayyinahtv.com/topics/1/categories/9/series/195/videos/1988
Parallel structure is from personal notes and research