Sūrat al-Qiyāmah

Observations on the structure, organization, and coherence of Sūrat al-Qiyāmah

Sūrat al-Qiyāmah (The Standing) is another relatively short sūrah whose focus is on the inevitability of resurrection and the Day of Standing (i.e., the Day of Judgment). It is said to be a very early Makkan revelation.

It appears that the sūrah may be organized in a ring structure as follows:

CONNECTIONS

[A]/[A’] - The sūrah begins and ends with reference to the disbelievers’ attitude towards being resurrected. Allah ﷻ goes into details to demonstrate His creative ability arguing that He has already created us before, so why should it be so difficult to do so again? In both passages, Allah ﷻ asks “Does man think (a-yaḥsabul insānu)…”. The first time, He addresses their denial of resurrection and the second time He asks if the disbelievers think they will be left alone after death.

[B]/[B’] - Building upon His detailed description of being resurrected, Allah ﷻ paints a vivid picture of the trials of the Day of Judgment. In [B], He describes the vision as “dazzled”, the moon as “darkened” and the sun and the moon as “joined” together. Allah ﷻ then gives three further illustrations of Judgment Day in [B’] when He says the faces will be “radiant”, “looking” at their Master, while other faces will be “contorted".

Both passages share the usage of the emphatic “No (kallā)!” that works to answer all the doubts the disbelievers bring forward about the reality of Judgment Day. Finally, both sections similarly state, “to your Lord, that Day, will be (ilā rabbika yawmaidhin)” the place of permanence and the procession.

[C]/[C’] - Finally, the sūrah is centered on the disapproval of rushing things for this world as opposed to the Afterlife. Allah ﷻ tells the Messenger ﷺ to not move his tongue in haste “to rush (li-taʿjala)” his recitation of the Quran. The Messenger ﷺ is rushing it because he does not want to forget it and so that he may convey the message faster as he learns more and more about the impending Judgment. Allah ﷻ assures him that the message is safe and goes on to reprimand the disbelievers who love to rush (al-ʿājilah) towards the things of this world while leaving off works for the Afterlife.

In addition to the above symmetry, an alternative ring structure has been proposed which includes parallels between corresponding sections.¹

And Allah ﷻ knows best.

1. The following observations are thanks to Ammar Ljevaković.