Sūrat al-Kahf (Part 8)
Part 8 of observations on the organization and structure of Sūrat al-Kahf
This blog past 2000 subscribers last week! What’s that? Nobody cares? Yeah, you’re right. Good point.
See Part 7 in last week’s post.
It appears āyāt 17-18 also form a mirror structure, with the theme of Allah’s guidance in the center. A few linguistic markers link the sections together.
CONNECTIONS
[M]/[M’] – “Wa tarā (And you would see) the sun when ṭalaʿat (it rose),” versus, “Law iṭṭalaʿta (If you had looked at them).”
[N]/[N’] – “Inclining away from their cave dhāta al-yamīni (on the right), and when it set, passing away from them dhāta ash-shimāli (on the left),” versus, “And We turned them dhāta al-yamīni wa dhāta ash-shimāli (to the right and to the left) …”
[O]/[O’] – Both sections reference the youth and dog laying in the open space, appearing awake, though in reality they were in a miraculous deep sleep.
[P]/[P’] – Allah ﷻ is ultimately in control of whether we are upon guidance or misguidance.
We also find a mirror structure across āyāt 22-26.
CONNECTIONS
[Q]/[Q’] – Both sections begin by quoting those who were guessing about the number of those in the cave and both end with an imperative resigning knowledge to Allah ﷻ. “Qul (Say) my Master aʿlamu (is more knowing) of their number,” versus “Qul (Say) Allah aʿlamu (is more knowing) of how long they remained.”
[R]/[R’] – The center is a contrast between a prohibition and a command not to say something (“So do not argue about them… And never say…”) and an order to do something and a command to say something (“Mention your Master… and say…”).
It seems that the descriptions of Hell and Paradise in āyāt 29-31 follow a parallel structure.
CONNECTIONS
[S]/[S’] – Both halves begin with Allah ﷻ mentioning what He has prepared for the denizens of Hell and Paradise, respectively, and conclude with a general description of each abode.
[T]/[T’] – We find a more specific description of some of the tortures of Hell paralleled with more specific descriptions of the luxuries of Paradise.
[U]/[U’] – The concluding statements of each half are similar, but for a different location. Hell’s description ends “Wretched is the drink, and evil is the resting place,” and Paradise’s description ends, “Excellent is the reward, and good is the resting place.”
And Allah ﷻ knows best.
Next week we’ll continue to look at some micro-structuring found throughout the sūrah in Part 9.
I care.