Sūrat YāSīn (Part 2)

Part 2 of observations on the organization, structure and coherence of Sūrat YāSīn

Last week we began by observing the structure of the first 2 out of 6 passages which make up Sūrat YāSīn. This week we will continue with the next passage, passage #3.

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Lessons from the World Around Us (The Wall in Front of Them) – Mirror Structure of Āyāt 33-44

CONNECTIONS

[H]/[H’] – Of Allah’s signs is that He brings the dead earth back to life. The corresponding section describes a situation where mankind was in the middle of the sea, as good as dead, but Allah ﷻ kept them alive, thus granting them another chance at life. Allah ﷻ mentions fruits and provisions, which matches with those embarking on the ship seeking provisions. He ﷻ sends down water from the sky to give life, while those on the boat are reminded that had He wanted, the water could also serve as a source of death. Finally, Allah ﷻ mentions His creation of spouses and of things in pairs. The complementary section speaks of children and offspring – the outcome of spouses being paired together - boarding the ship.

[I]/[I’] – Both sections describe al-layl (the night) and an-nahār (the day), and in that order.

[J]/[J’] – Both sections describe ash-shams (the sun) and al-qamar (the moon), and in that order.

 The Blind (The Covering) – Ring Structure of Āyāt 45-47

CONNECTIONS

[K]/[K’] – Both sections begin with “wa idhā qīla la-hum (and when it is said to them)” and converge on highlighting the crimes of the disbelievers. [K] mentions their lack of God-consciousness (“beware”) while Section [K’] mentions their lack of care for humanity.

[L] – The disbelievers are heedless of the “signs of their Master”, with the Master, Allah ﷻ, representing “what is above.” They have resolved to deny all advice and miracles sent to them. They have become willfully blind by “turning away.”

Lessons from the Unseen (Guidance from Above) – Ring Structure of Āyāt 48-68

CONNECTIONS

[M]/[M’] – This ring begins with the disbelievers asking, “When is this promise?” They mockingly want to know when they will be resurrected and presented before Allah ﷻ. Their question is later responded to in [M’] when they are told that we are all aging. In other words, “Look at your body deteriorating. As you age, the promise is being fulfilled. You are already slowly being brought back to Allah ﷻ.”

[N]/[N’] – Both parts use the same wording of “wa lā yarjiʿūn (they will not return)” to describe the desperate situation of the disbelievers on the Day of Judgment. They both also make reference to sight with words such as “yubṣirūn (they see)”, “aʿuni-him (their eyes)” and “yanẓurūn (they look)”.

[O]/[O’] – Both [O] and [O’] describe scenes from the Day of Judgment. [O] ends with Allah ﷻ saying, “you will not be recompensed except for what you used to do,” and [O’] ends with the limbs testifying against their user “about what they used to earn.”

[P] - The chaos depicted in the surrounding sections is centered by a pleasant description of the people of Paradise.

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We’ll continue our observations in next week’s post.

If anyone would like to listen to a nice recitation of Sūrat YāSīn, you can check out my friend’s recording below. Or, you can follow him on his socials for other nice Quran recordings.

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