The Qur'an is a book that was revealed and written down over a span of more than two decades. When we read the verses and chapters, the theme seems to shift from one subject to the other without the subjects following a definite course. And the reason stated seems quite obvious because the Qur'an was revealed in parts as and when a situation arose and needed addressal. However, when reflected upon closely, the chapters and verses of the Qur'an that appear to be random, reflect a very methodical arrangement within themselves. A unique pattern is observed not only across the chapters of the Qur'an but also within every chapter and even within the individual verses. Before we dive deep into this complex structure, let us acquaint ourselves with a few simpler examples to better understand this pattern.
Pair of chapters
In our first example, we shall pick up two consecutive chapters of the Qur'an, Surah Rahman and Surah Waqi'ah which constitute the 55th and 56th chapters of the Qur'an respectively. The content of Surah Rahman can be broadly classified into 5 main subjects.
Now let us move ahead into the next chapter which is Surah Waqi'ah. This chapter also deals with a similar theme and its contents can be similarly classified into 5 subjects. However, what makes it worth mentioning is that when we list out the 5 subjects that Surah Waqi'ah deals with, we realize that they form a mirror reflection of the same 5 subjects that were dealt with in the previous chapter. The 5 main subjects dealt in Surah Waqi'ah are;
This is one of the simplest examples of this pattern observed across a pair of chapters. In due course, we shall see how complex this pattern gets. But before that, we shall take another example of a similar pattern, but this time, observed across a single chapter.
A single chapter
Surah Yusuf, the 12th chapter of the Qur'an is one such unique chapter that deals with the story of a Prophet in its entirety. The plot develops in stages until the time when Yusuf a.s. is imprisoned. After this, the story eventually begins to unfold itself. The story can be divided into 12 phases, which when observed reflects the same symmetry, previously observed across a pair of chapters.
(B) His brothers plot against him.
(C) The wife of Aziz tries to seduce him.
(D) Women conspire and cut their hands.
(E) Yusuf a.s. ends up in prison.
(F) The king of Egypt sees a dream.
(F) Yusuf a.s. interprets the dream.
(E) The king orders his release.
(D) Women who had conspired, confess their crime.
(C) The wife of Aziz confesses her crime.
(B) The plot of his brothers is exposed.
(A) Finally, the dream of Yusuf a.s. comes true.
These were however simpler examples exhibiting this pattern. Any writer or a poet can, with some effort, might achieve this in his writings. But what about a book whose content is orally recited and is penned down later? Any verse once recited, no other changes or alterations in its sentences and their order is made after that. In fact, the Qur'an was not revealed and penned in its entirety from cover to cover. Different verses of different chapters were revealed and were placed and arranged as the Prophet of Islam directed the scribes.
A well-experienced poet may still claim to achieve a similar pattern but he can achieve it only if he writes what he desires to. Imagine achieving the same with verses that are recited in response to the events that occur, in response to the accusations made by the enemies from time to time, addressing the questions asked by people over various matters, while all of these stretching over a span of 23 years. Only someone aware of the future events could come anywhere close to bringing such an arrangement in his writings. To a man who could neither read nor write, oral recitations would pose yet another major challenge.
The Ring Composition
To witness the marvellous complexity of this arrangement in its further depth, we shall now look into the longest chapter of the Qur'an, Surah Baqarah, which was completed in around 16 years. The contents of a chapter as long and apparently as diverse as Baqarah can be broadly divided into 9 subjects. These subjects when listed out reveal the same symmetrical pattern.
The change in direction of the prayer for the Muslims is dealt with, right in the middle of the chapter, exactly from where the subjects are revised in a reverse direction. And not only this. The chapter has in total 286 verses, and this middle verse i.e. 143 which talks about the change in the directions begins by stating,
"Thus We have appointed you a middle nation, that ye may be witnesses against mankind, and that the messenger may be a witness against you..." [Qur'an 2:143]
This pattern does not only limit itself only across a chapter or a pair of chapters. In fact, each of the subjects listed out, when further elaborated reveal a similar pattern. To understand this, let us pick the 8th unit i.e. Allah’s creation and knowledge. This small unit can be summarized further into 3 subunits.
While this small subunit exhibits a pattern similar to the whole chapter, we find such structure within each of the nine units listed previously. Interestingly, this structure goes further deep. The 8th unit mentioned above contains the very famous and widely memorised verse called the Verse of the Throne or Ayat'ul Kursi. Let us proceed to analyze the Ayat'ul Kursi contained in the 8th sub-unit.
This verse reflects a symmetrical pattern. The first line relates to the last line, the second to the second last, so on and so forth. And the middle part is wherein the Qur'an says "He knows what is before them and what will be after them".
So to sum up backwards, to where we started, this verse, exhibiting symmetry, forms a part of a subunit that also reflects a similar pattern. Several such subunits reflecting this pattern within them, together form the whole chapter. The chapter yet again reflects the same symmetry. This whole concentric structural arrangement of the verses and chapter of the Qur'an is referred to as the Ring Composition.
The observation was first made by an Indian scholar, Hamiduddin Farahi (1863-1930) who elaborated this phenomenon in his work "Coherence in the Qur'an". Up until then, scholars held a general belief that individual verses of the Qur'an were a distinct command revealed on a certain occasion. This is why a complete chapter, and even the Qur'an as a whole book, does not follow a definite course in its narration, unlike any regular book penned from cover to cover.
Hamiduddin Farahi believed that the arrangement of verses and chapters in the Qur'an are not random but of divine order. They form a very systematic structure in their arrangement. He also explained that each surah has a central theme and the whole surah revolves around that specific theme. This analysis was a huge breakthrough that paved the way to a whole new dimension of Qur'anic studies and is continued to be studied and explored even today.
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