Symmetry in Sura al-Room

I have discovered a chiastic structure in Sura al-Room.

Here is my rhetorical analysis:

Notes

I also discovered a mini parallel involving distress and taste:

30:33     Distress; a taste of His mercy

30:46     A taste of His mercy; ships sailing (a situation linked to distress in the Qur’an)

I also discovered additional correspondences between A and A’. I noticed that A’ repeatedly mentions winds, and also mentions ships. I knew that section A was a prediction of Heraclius’ campaign of 622, so I hypothesized that Heraclius’ campaign might have involved the sailing of ships. I did some research, and found out that his first move was to sail. Not only that, but his sailing included a rather dramatic encounter with tempestuous winds. Here is an excerpt from Heraclius: Emperor of Byzantium, written by the historian Walter Kaegi:

Heraclius celebrated Easter on Sunday, 4 April 622, at Constantinople, from which he departed on the following day. He had already shifted his principal European armies, that is those whom he normally stationed in troubled Thrace, to Asia in anticipation of the compaign. Heraclius’ crossing the straits to assume command of the army against the Persians is the subject of many lines of George of Pisidia’s poetry. The figure of Heraclius acting as a bold naval commander even when a tempest blew up is easily expanded by George into a major act of heroism, and it bears comparison with representations of other famous leaders crossing rivers, symbolizing firm leadership and courage in the face of adversity and danger. After Heraclius overcame the challenge of the waves, his ship sailed to Pylai, in Bithynia... In addition to drill, Heraclius emphasized inculcation of religion in his soldiers. Heraclius reportedly addressed his troops: “The possession and the manner of authority has joined me and you. For we exercise the advance of authority not so much by fear as by love. Against the inhuman violence that tyranny arms against the laws, my rule now introduced instead the compulsion of love of mankind and to oppose mine to those others, which always requires well-constructed laws to those raised up in adversity. I so think in this way and form. But the common King and Lord of all and the leader of our armies is He [God] with Whom is the safest course of command in war, through Whom victory follows with deep piety. Believing in Him, I now take up arms with you for the task. It is necessary for us to march out against the enemy who worship idols, who mix blood sacrifices with polluted blood. Those are churches of human misery, contaminated with the worst sensual pleasures. They wish to cut out the grapevine of the sacred word with the barbarian sword. They are the ones about whom David divinely spoke about, saying ‘blessed is he who strikes down the sons of Persia and smashes them against the rocks.’” Heraclius’ invocation of Davidic language and imagery here is not the only time that it will occur in his reign. His poet George of Psidia voiced the hope of many subjects in wishing “You have put black sandals on your feet. May you color them red with Persians’ blood.”[1]

Joseph’s sermon about Allah occurs in the middle of Sura Yusuf’s chiastic ring, and now we see that elements of Heraclius’ sermon about God seem to occur in the middle of Sura Room’s chiastic ring. The parallel is especially suited, because both the story of Joseph and the story of the Byzantines are about regaining power with Allah’s help after falling to the bottom.

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[1] Walter Kaegi, Heraclius: Emperor of Byzantium (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2003), 112-114.