Sūrat al-Burūj

Observations on the structure, organization and cohesion of Sūrat al-Burūj

Surat al-Burūj (The Celestial Fortresses), was revealed in Meccan during a sustained period of persecution of the Messenger’s followers. This sūrah is most famous for its reference to an incident in history in which a set of believers were told to jump into a trench which had been set ablaze by the disbelieving government (named by Allah ﷻ as the “Companions of the Trench”).

The sūrah appears to be in a mirror composition with the entire sūrah forming a single structure.¹

CONNECTIONS

[A]/[A’] - Allah ﷻ begins by swearing by the heaven which possesses celestial fortresses. He then ends the sūrah by mentioning the lawḥ al-maḥfūẓ, which is known as the “Guarded Tablet”. The Guarded Tablet is with Allah ﷻ and records everything which will occur from the beginning of creation to the end of time. In other words, the sūrah begins by mentioning celestial (i.e., heavenly) fortresses, which are used for guarding, and ends with a Guarded Tablet which resides in the heavens.

[B]/[B’] - Allah ﷻ swears by the “Promised Day”, which is referring to the Day of Judgment; a Day promised to occur throughout the Quran. The corresponding āyah mentions the very Quran it is promised in.

[C]/[C’] – Finally, Allah ﷻ swears by “the witness and the witnessed”, an oath which assures the believers - and warns the disbelievers - that their plight has been witnessed. This is illustrated by the correlating āyah wherein Allah ﷻ says that He is encompassing the disbelievers from behind. In other words, while the disbeliever is a witness to his own crimes, Allah ﷻ is in turn witnessing him, whether they realize it or not. The witness has become the witnessed.

[D]/[D’] - The Companions of the Trench refers to a group of people in history who dug a trench to burn the believing people alive in. Allah ﷻ curses them and then says that they were in denial. In denial of what? That they will be held accountable for their crimes, as every wrongdoer in history is wont to do.

[E]/[E’] – First, Allah ﷻ tells us the news of the disbelievers’ deeds. Then, He asks later on if the news of another group of disbelievers has reached us.

[F]/[F’] - Allah ﷻ links this group of āyāt through the shared usage of a verb. First Allah ﷻ says that the disbelievers are a witness to what they have done (yafʿalūna) and later compares it to His own doing (faʿāl). In the case of the “doing” of Allah ﷻ, the Arabic is in the hyperbolized form to demonstrate that the actions of the disbelievers cannot be compared to what Allah ﷻ is capable of doing.

[G]/[G’] - These āyāt are connected through their descriptions of Allah ﷻ. Allah ﷻ describes Himself as “the Almighty, the Praiseworthy (al-Ḥamīd)” and later describes Himself as “the Forgiving, the Loving, the Possessor of the Majestic Throne (al-Majīd). Notice the similarities in how the two sections end phonetically as well.

[H]/[H’] - Allah ﷻ mentions His amazing creations of the heavens and the earth and later tells us that He is the “Originator” of such greatness, as well as being the “Repeater” of such feats if He pleases.

[I]/[I’] - The theme of “being a witness (shahīd)” repeats itself in this section, with Allah ﷻ warning those who thing think they can get away with their actions that His grip is “severe (shadīd).” Again, notice the phonetic link between the two āyāt.

[J]/[J’] - Finally, the center of the surah emphasizes Allah’s justice as it will be fully realized in the afterlife with the destiny of the disbelievers being contrasted with that of the believers.

And Allah ﷻ knows best

1. This analysis is summarized from Robinson, Discovering the Qur’an, with some slight modifications done by Khan and Randhawa in Divine Speech.