Sūrat al-Mursalāt (Part 2)
Final part of observations on the structure, coherence and organization of Sūrat al-Mursalāt in the Quran
Make sure to go back and read Part 1 for the parallel structure shared on this sūrah.
It has also been shown that Sūrat al-Mursalāt can be organized into a ring structure as well.1
CONNECTIONS
[D]/[D’] – Allah ﷻ begins the sūrah swearing by natural and supernatural phenomena and mentions the cataclysmic events of the Day of Judgment. All this is in service of emphasizing the promise of accountability that is sure to happen. In a similar light, the final section outlines the results of the impending judgment. We will either be of those rewarded with Paradise, or those thrown into Hellfire.
[E]/[E’] – Allah ﷻ speaks of yawm al-faṣl (the Day of Separation) in both sections. In the first, He says He destroyed the sinners of former nations. In the latter, He talks about the destruction of current sinners, though He does so by speaking about the Day of Judgment as if it were occurring right now.
[F] – This sūrah is entirely apocalyptic save for a discussion of the beginnings of humanity and the earth in its center.
Looking at the center in more detail, we find another ring structure.2
CONNECTIONS
[F1]/[F1’] – The ring begins as it ends, “waylun yawmaʾidhin li-lmukadhdhibīn (Woe, that Day, to the deniers).”
[F2]/[F2’] – There is a contrast between the despicable water out of which humanity were made and the sweet water which Allah ﷻ gives people to drink.
[F3]/[F3’] – Allah ﷻ describes the womb as a place where we are formed and fashioned for a determined amount of time (i.e., the ~9 months of pregnancy). Similarly, the earth is described as a container, but for both the living and the dead. And just as the sperm was firmly lodged into the womb, the mountains are deeply rooted into the earth.
[F4] – Not surprisingly, the central pivot falls on the line “Woe on that Day to those who rejected” (waylun yawmaʾidhin li-lmukadhdhibīn), which appears nine times throughout the entire sūrah as its reprise.
And Allah ﷻ knows best.
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. 177
I have altered the author’s original ring structure ever-so-slightly to make better sense of the connections he was drawing.