Sūrat al-Zalzalah and Sūrat al-ʿĀdiyāt
Observations on the connections between Sūrat al-Zalzalah and Sūrat al-ʿĀdiyāt
Sūrat az-Zalzalah (The Earthquake) and Sūrat al-ʿĀdiyāt (The Chargers) are the 99th and 100th suwar in the Quran, respectively. They also seem to form a complementary pair.
CONNECTIONS
[A]/[A’] – Both suwar begin with very illustrative and shocking scenes. Sūrat az-Zalzalah details the Earth spilling its secrets and burdens as it shakes with such an intensity that mankind begins asking, “What’s wrong with it!” Sūrat al-ʿĀdiyāt begins with an even more vivid description as it gives a scene-by-scene breakdown of a raid as it rains down on an unsuspecting enemy.
[B]/[B’] – With the attention of the listener now hooked, both suwar take the opportunity to turn the audience’s attention to a scene much more important than what proceeded; them standing for account before Allah ﷻ. Both suwar describe deeds being brought forth for judgment, from the smallest bad deed to the largest good deed. Graves will be overturned, people’s secrets will be exposed, and Allah ﷻ will demonstrate his full awareness of all matters on that Day.
And Allah ﷻ knows best.