Week 1-2; Analysis of a sūra

SŪRA 81 - SHROUDED IN DARKNESS

1. INTRODUCTION

This essay aims at a concise treatment of Sūratu‘t-Takwīr (Q.81) through the analysis of some of the themes
present in it as well as its structure and literary form. 1

Sūratu‘t-Takwīr (Shrouded in Darkness) is a sūra composed in the early Meccan period, in the first five years
of Muḥammad’s prophetic activity. The sūra is symmetrically divided into two distinct thematic passages:
the first one consisting in verses 1 to 14, and the second one begins with verse 15 and goes on to 29. The
analysis is carried out in two steps, first examining 81:1-14 (Part 1), and then 81:15-29 (Part 2). The text in
its current version bears the signs of additions and revisions that well exemplify the complex formation
process the Quranic text underwent during the Prophet’s life. Even if both parts of the sūra are considered
to have been composed in the early Meccan period, the first section is deemed to be more recent than the
second one. In addition to this, the latter most probably underwent revision in later times (Bell: 638, 639).

2. PART 1

1 When the sun is shrouded in darkness,

2 when the stars are dimmed,
3 when the mountains are set in motion,
4 when pregnant camels are abandoned,
5 when wild beasts are herded together,
6 when the seas boil over,
7 when souls are sorted into classes,
8 when the baby girl buried alive is asked
9 for what sin she was killed,
10 when the records of deeds are spread open,
11 when the sky is stripped away,
12 when Hell is made to blaze
13 and Paradise brought near,
14 then every soul will know what it has brought about.

2.1 Content

The sūra opens with the description of the signs heralding the end-times. The scenario presented is a
remarkably dynamic one: while the time of the Final Judgement is approaching, the usual order of natural
elements is disrupted. The concealment (takwīr) of the sun, from which the sūra took its name, is the first
sign to be mentioned. The stars diminish in brightness or fall (Bell shows how the verb inkadara can be
translated in both ways), and the sky is removed. Down on the earth, the mountains lose their stillness and
the seas are made to boil up. The wild beasts gather together, possibly because they are in fear (Bell: 638).

1
The translation used here is that by Abdel Haleem; Bell’s version is employed whenever an alternative rendition for a
term is needed. The only biblical passage mentioned here is from King James Bible; an alternative and less dated
version (Complete Jewish Bible, 1998) is shown in footnote.
Humankind is, of course, also present in this scenario. As the image of the neglected she-camels suggests,
humans abandon their earthly concerns. Their souls are divided into groups or paired with their bodies (the
latter is Bell’s translation for the verb zuwwija), while both Hell and Heaven are being prepared to welcome
them after the Judgement. The object of judgement, that is to say the human deeds, is mentioned twice. In
verse 10, the record of deeds (ṣuḥuf, more literally rendered by Bell as “pages”) is opened to be consulted.
Verses 8 and 9 are a clear indication that those who, following a well-known pre-Islamic practice, had
buried their innocent baby girls because of their gender will be punished.

2.2 The Day of Judgement

The description of the end-times is indeed a main theme in the early Meccan sūras, as it is in the Quranic
corpus in general (Neuwirth: 76, 79; Ernst: 77), and the representations of the Day of Judgement found in
Q.81 closely resembles those present in other passages of the Quran. The early Meccan sūra immediately
following Sūratu‘t-Takwīr, namely Q.82 (Sūratu‘l-Infiṭār, Torn Apart), can be taken as an example for such
intratextual links (Bell: 638). It begins with a five verse long description of the Apocalypse that shares a
number of images with Q.81, and it also closes with a statement referring to the souls similar in meaning to
verse 14 in Sūratu‘t-Takwīr:

1 When the sky is torn apart,

2 when the stars are scattered,
3 when the seas burst forth,
4 when graves turn inside out:
5 each soul will know what it has done and what it has left undone. 

The Quranic descriptions of the Last Day also echo the ones found in the Hebrew Bible, and more generally
those typical of the Eastern Mediterranean eschatological literature. The Quranic representation of the sky
in the Day of Judgement is an example of such shared ideas. In the passages analysed above, the sky is
described as being stripped away (kušiṭat, Q.81:11), or torn apart (infaṭarat, Q.82:1). The biblical
counterpart for this image is that of the sky being rolled up like a scroll, as read in Isaiah 34:4 (Ernst: 82):

4 And all the host of heaven shall be dissolved, and the heavens shall be rolled together as a scroll:
and all their host shall fall down, as the leaf falleth off from the vine, and as a falling fig from the fig
tree.2

Although bearing a resemblance to the ones characterising other sūras and possibly to those found in the
Hebrew Bible, the description of the Apocalypse constituting the first part of Q.81 is distinctive in that it
introduces an element typical of the Arab context in which it was composed: the neglected full-term she-
camels (Q.81:4). According to Neuwirth, it is often noticed that many images characterising Meccan sūras
draw upon the Psalms. In their making use of psalmic symbols and ideas, these sūras also adopted images
characteristic of the agricultural settled societies in which the Psalms had been produced (Neuwirth: 79,
81). In this respect, verse 4 in Sūratu‘t-Takwīr seems to deviate from such imitative tendency, as it features
an element typical of the nomadic world (see Ernst: 82).

2.3 Structure and literary form

2
Complete Jewish Bible (CJB): “The whole host of heaven will decompose, the heavens themselves be rolled up like a
scroll; all their array will wither away like a withering grape-leaf that falls from a vine or a withered fig from a fig tree.”
As far as the literary devices employed in Q.81:1-14 are concerned, a few main features are worth
mentioning. The passage taken into consideration here consists in a sequence of short verses, and the
rhyme in -at is maintained throughout the whole section. 3 The sūra begins with a long succession of
temporal clauses clearly designed to build up dramatic tension. Such tension is eased only at the very end
of the first passage, with a principal clause concerning the destiny of souls (nafs). As Ernst points out, the
combination of the conjunction ʾiḏā (when) with past tense verbs, common in the Quran, stresses the
inevitability of the scenario presented (Ernst: 83). One of the most noticeable peculiarities of this sūra is its
remarkably large number of verses devoted to such temporal clauses. Q.84 and, more noticeably, Q.82
share similar openings to Sūratu‘t-Takwīr: both sūras are characterised by a sequence of clauses introduced
by ʾiḏā and prepare the reader for a main clause about the souls. The series of temporal clauses in Q.81,
however, is much longer and displays a slightly more complex structure, as it appears to have a bipartite
structure. This verse describes the paring of the souls (nufūs) with their bodies and therefore anticipates
the content of verse 14. It thus seems to divide this fourteen-verse long section of the sūra into two
subparts identical in length and ending with a verse concerning the souls.

3. PART 2

15 I swear by the planets

16 that recede, move, and hide,
17 by the night that descends,
18 by the dawn that softly breathes:
19 this is the speech of a noble messenger,
20 who possesses great strength and is held in honour by the Lord of the Throne.
21 He is obeyed there and worthy of trust.
22 Your companion is not mad:
23 he did see him on the clear horizon.
24 He does not withhold what is revealed to him from beyond.
25 This is not the word of an outcast devil.
26 So where are you [people] going?
27 This is a message for all people;
28 for those who wish to take the straight path.
29 But you will only wish to do so by the will of God, the Lord of all people.

3.1 Content

The second section of the sūra begins with a sequence of five oaths sworn on the planets (or, according to
Bell, the stars), the night, and the dawn. These oaths have the function to convey strength to the section
that follows, Q.81:19-29. In these verses, the Prophet states that his message is genuine because it comes
from a messenger (rasūl, the angel Gabriel) who is trustworthy and held in honour by God, and not from a
rebel angel exiled from Heaven. The Prophet also asserts that he is not a mad person ( majnūn, literally “one
possessed by jinns”) and that he has had indeed witnessed the appearance of the angel on the horizon.
God’s revelation to the Prophet is described as a “reminder for the worlds” (this is Bell’s translation for ḏikr
li’l-ʿālamīna in Q.81:27), addressed to those who are willing to undertake G.

3
The same rhyme is found in Q.82:1-5 and Q.84:1-5
3.2 Oaths

Q.81:15-29 is regarded as being the oldest part of Sūratu‘t-Takwīr. Indeed, oath clusters, which in Q:81 are
found in verses 15 to 18, usually mark the beginning of a sūra rather than occupying the middle of it. The
presence in a great number of early Meccan sūras of oaths referring to phases of the day and night or to
celestial bodies and their movement is, in Neuwirth’s view, related to the liturgical nature of these sūras.
Similarly to the biblical Psalms, the Quranic suras composed in the early Meccan period were designed to
be chanted during devotional practices, or revealed in those occasions. Oath clusters mentioning times and
astronomical movements are therefore a reference to the timing when such rituals took place and the sūra
was recited. If read in this light, the Quran offers rather specific indications as to what time the liturgical
services were to be performed. In Sūratu‘t-Takwīr, following the oath sworn on the planets, two timings are
mentioned: the hours immediately following the sunset (Q:81:18) and the dawn (Q:81:19). Attestations of
these two liturgical times are rather frequent in the Quranic corpus (Neuwirth: 119-121).

3.3 Later additions and revision

Bell considers Q.81:29 to be an afterthought inserted in later times. Also verses 20, 21, and 23 appear to be
later additions. Theoretically, by putting aside these verses, a (rather approximate) reconstruction of the
original passage can be obtained:

15 I swear by the planets

16 that recede, move, and hide,
17 by the night that descends,
18 by the dawn that softly breathes:
19 this is the speech of a noble messenger.
22 Your companion is not mad,
24 he does not withhold what is revealed to him from beyond.
25 This is not the word of an outcast devil.
26 So where are you [people] going?
27 This is a message for all people;
28 for those who wish to take the straight path.

Reshaped in this fashion, the text comes to lack any mention of the apparition of the angel Gabriel. As a
necessary consequence, the term rasūl (“the Messenger”) does no longer indicate the Angel, and it now
refers to the Prophet. According to Bell, the reason why verses 20, 21, and 23 were inserted was to create a
link with the accounts of two apparitions of Gabriel present in another sūra, namely Q.53 (Sūratu‘n-Najm,
the Star). Only the first one of these two descriptions (Q.53:1-11), which most closely resembles Q.81:15-
25, will be quoted here:

1 By the star when it sets!

2 Your companion has not strayed; he is not deluded;
3 he does not speak from his own desire.
4 The Qurʾan is nothing less than a revelation that is sent to him.
5 It was taught to him by [an angel] with mighty powers
6 and great strength, who stood
7 on the highest horizon
8 and then approached —coming down
9 until he was two bow-lengths away or even closer —
10 and revealed to God's servant what He revealed.
11 [The Prophet's] own heart did not distort what he saw. 

Q.81:15-29 may therefore have been modified afterwards in order to support the statement of verses 1 to
11 of Sūratu‘n-Najm (Bell: 638). Nöldeke seems not to consider the mention of Gabriel in both sūras to be
the result of a later insertion, but simply highlights the similarity in content between the two passages
(Nöldeke: 82, 83).

3.4 Structure and literary form

From the point of view of rhyme, the second part of Sūratu‘t-Takwīr is more complex than the first one. It
can be subdivided into two sections, which clearly correspond with the two main thematic passages of
Q.81:15-29, namely the oaths and the apparition of the angel Gabriel. The -as rhymes characterise all the
introductory oath verses (Q.81:15-18), and a change in the rhyming syllables marks the passage to the
second thematic section (Q.81:19-29), which employs -īn/-īm rhymes 4. At a first glance, the -ūn rhymes of
verses 22 and 26 appears to break the harmony of an otherwise quite regular rhyming scheme. Since the -
ūn rhymes are found in the two verses when the pronoun “you” (plural) is present, they may mark the
emergence of the listeners in the discourse. In addition to this, they occur regularly, at the third and third-
to-last verses, with three verses lying in between them.

4. CONCLUSION

Sūratu‘t-Takwīr displays a remarkable complexity in content; the themes dealt with throughout the text are
very diverse, and many shifts in subject are present. Nevertheless, two main topics can be identified in the
sūra. The first section is occupied entirely by the description of the Day of Judgement, while the second
part, introduced by an oath cluster, is devoted to reminding the audience of the truthfulness of the
Revelation, by asserting that it was passed down to the Prophet through the angel Gabriel.

The sūra also shows a high level of refinement in structure and form. In the first place, the division into two
main groups of verses almost of the same length, its most noticeable structural characteristic, conveys a
sense of symmetry. Secondly, notwithstanding its non-linear formation process, this sūra also features a
carefully constructed literary form which is typical of many early Meccan sūras, as proved by the fact that
the rhyme groups were evidently designed to make the main thematic parts and the boundaries between
them more easily identifiable.

5. APPENDIX - Rhyming words in sūra 81

1 kuwwirat
2 inkadarat
3 suyyirat
4 ʿuṭṭilat

4
Verses 19, 25, and 28 may give the impression of falling out of form due to their -īm rhyme, but it should be
remembered that -īm and -īn rhymes often occur together in the Quran almost as if they were interchangeable (the
best example for this is probably Q.1).
5 ḥuširat
6 sujjirat
7 zuwwijat
8 suʾilat
9 qutilat
10 nuširat
11 kušiṭat
12 suʿʿirat
13 ʾunzilat
14 ʾaḥḍarat

15 bi’l-junnasi
16 ‘l-kunnasi
17 ʿasʿasa
18 tanaffasa

19 karīmin
20 makīnin
21 ʾamīnin
22 bi-majnūnin
23 ‘l-mubīni
24 bi-ḍanīnin
25 rrajīmin
26 taḏhabūna
27 li’l-ʿālamīna
28 yastaqīma
29 ‘l-ʿālamīna

6. BIBLIOGRAPHY

Abdel Haleem, Muhammad A. S. (trans.). The Qur’an. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2010

Bell, Richard. The Qurʾān: Translated, with a Critical Re-Arrangement of the Surahs. 2 vols. Edinburgh: T. &
T. Clark, 1937.

Ernst, Carl. How to Read the Qurʾan: A New Guide, With Select Translations. Chapel Hill: University of North
Carolina Press, 2011

Neuwirth, Angelika. Scripture, Poetry and the Making of a Commujnity: Reading the Qur’an as a Literary
Text. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2014.

Nöldeke, Theodor, et al. The History of the Qurʾān. Translated by Wolfgang H. Behn. Leiden: Brill, 2012.