Sūrat al-Ḥadīd (Part 1)
Part 1 of observations on the structure and organization of Sūrat al-Ḥadīd
Sūrat al-Ḥadīd (Iron) is an interesting sūrah in that it is universally agreed that it is a Madani revelation, but the subject-matter feels very Makkan. It begins with praise of Allah ﷻ, focuses much of its discourse on the Afterlife, and concludes with an encouragement to seek Allah’s forgiveness.
There has been more than one structure proposed for this sūrah, some with more convincing breakdowns than others. The first we will explore is a ring structure spanning the entirety of the sūrah.1
CONNECTIONS2
[A]/[A’] – The opening of the sūrah speaks of Allah’s ownership of the heavens and the earth, His all-encompassing power, and His general control over all things. And it is through this power that He is able to declare at the conclusion of the sūrah that He alone owns all favor, and that He dispenses it as He pleases. The People of the Book have no say in how Allah ﷻ operates, no matter their insistence.
[B]/[B’] – The next sections are set up as a parallel structure. The injunction to spend in Allah’s way is followed in both cases with reference to a group of people, judgment, and something coming down on them.
[C] – At the center of this sūrah are the powerful āyāt calling believers to turn back to Him, to not be like the previous believing nations that let their hearts get hard, and to remember that Allah ﷻ can bring our hearts back to life if need be.
Within this same structure, Section [A] was also shown to contain its own mini ring structure.
CONNECTIONS
[A1]/[A1’] – Everything in existence praises Allah ﷻ, except for those with freewill. We have a choice, but, as the ending references, only Allah ﷻ knows if our hearts truly turn towards Him.
[A2]/[A2’] – He gives life and causes death, with much of life coming out the ground in some form, and returning to it upon death. This complements the corresponding section when Allah ﷻ says, “And to Allah are returned [all] matters. He causes the night to enter the day and causes the day to enter the night.” The cycle of life is mimicked by the cycle of day and night above.
[A3]/[A3’] – Allah ﷻ being the “First and the Last” relates to Him knowing what “penetrates into the earth and what emerges from it,” i.e., our bodies and souls. He is there before our birth and after our death. And He is “of all things, Knowing,” especially because “He is with you wherever you are. And Allah, of what you do, is Seeing.”
[A4] – This section centers on Allah ﷻ establishing Himself above the Throne.
In Part 2, we’ll explore another plausible structure for this sūrah.
Archer, George. A Place Between Two Places: The Qur’ān’s Intermediate State and the Early History of the Barzakh. 2015. Georgetown University, PhD dissertation. Pg. 225.
These connections are my very simplified explanations as the original paper lacked clarification.