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Suras 50-56: A Structural and Thematic Analysis
Abstract by Dr. Raymond Farrin On Session 188  (Qur'anic Hermeneutics)

On Sunday, November 21 at 08:30 am

2010 Annual Meeting

Abstract
This paper takes a literary approach to Suras 50-56, analyzing them in terms of structure and theme. Whereas the prominent modern Qur'anic scholar Amin Islahi finds Suras 50-66 as constituting a group, this paper rather identifies Suras 50-56 as constituting a group, one which is enclosed by the two corresponding groups of Suras 47-49 and 57-66. It furthermore shows that the central suras of 50-56 are themselves arranged according to concentric symmetry. The first part of the paper differentiates Suras 50-56, which deal with the hereafter, from the groups of 47-49 and 57-66. The latter two are thematically similar, being legislative, and correspond rhetorically, such as by prominent reference to the Prophet's identity (in the title of Sura 47; and in the verses 47:2, 48:29, and 61:6) and to victory in the struggle against the pagans (in the title of Sura 48 and in 57:10). The correspondences between 47-49 and 57-66 structurally enclose 50-56. The second part of the paper analyzes 50-56 as a coherent group. One appreciates in them a thematic progression (thus Sura 56, for example, follows 55 by elaborating on the description of heaven and hell). At the same time, one notes rhetorical correspondences between 50-53 and 56. Thus 51:6 and 52:7 ("inna . . . la-waqi'a) anticipate the title of 56 ("Al-Waqi'a); and 56 (verses 75-76, towards the end of this sura) returns to the style of the declarative oaths used at the beginnings of Suras 50-53. The structural correspondences within this group have the effect of embedding 54-55. The last part of the paper discusses 54-55 as a pair. Especially prominent is the connection between the last verse of 54 and the first of 55, which is the exact center of the pair (and of the group, by extension). In the two verses are highlighted the two fundamental attributes of God, which will be manifest to all on Judgment Day. The Qur'an speaks here of being in the presence of an Omnipotent Sovereign . . . the Merciful. This paper thus identifies the arrangement of seven central, eschatological suras, and their enclosure by two corresponding sura groups. It finally suggests that the pattern of concentric symmetry--evident here in the arrangement of the core group, and in the presence of corresponding outer groups--may well obtain for the Qur'an as a whole.
Discipline
Literature
Geographic Area
Islamic World
Sub Area
Islamic Studies