Rhetorical analysis of Sura 74, al-Muddaththir - PART I "General introduction"

Iyyaka

Peace,

Prerequisites
1 - For those who are not familiar with structuring a text according to the principles of rhetorical analysis, then I suggest that they at least consult the summary sheets on my site (https//reveniraucoran.fr/pour-approfondir/) - sheets in English (english flag) and French.
2 - This is essentially a popularisation in English of a work already published in French
3 - For practical reasons the basic translation will be that of this site (FM)

I. AN ENIGMATIC STRUCTURE

The structure of Sura 74, al-Muddaththir ('He who is clothed with a mantle&#039, is presented in a variety of ways by orientalists and modern Muslim commentators.

Thematically, the following units can be roughly distinguished

a sending of the Prophet on a mission by God (vv. 1-7),
an announcement of the punishment that threatens the unbelievers on the Last Day (8-10),
an account of a rich man who refuses to believe in the prophetic proclamation (11-26),
considerations on Hell (27-37),
a threat to those who refuse to believe (38-56).

Tradition recognises the great antiquity of verses 1-7 if they are not the first to be revealed (this honour is generally attributed to Sura 96, "Adherence&quot, at least they would have followed the first revelation after a long period of silence, thus inaugurating the time of uninterrupted revelation. According to Tradition, the following verses (8-56) would have been revealed during the first pilgrimage after the Prophet began his public preaching in Mecca. Mawdūdī, who takes up this tradition, distinguishes five textual units in v. 8-56

v. 8-10 a warning to the deniers of the Truth,
v. 11-26 the account of a wealthy person, identified by all of Tradition with Walīd ibn al-Mughīra, who, in order to save his interests, refuses to believe in the Prophet's
preaching,
v. 27-48 a description of Hell and those destined for it (with an incision that covers almost the entire long verse 31),
v. 49-53, the roots of disbelief the lack of fear of the Hereafter is the reason why men flee from the Qur'an.
v. 54-56 a theological conclusion.

Orientalists all agree with Tradition in recognising the specificity and antiquity of the first seven verses. Most consider v. 8-10 as forming a distinct textual unit. On the other and, the rest of the text is divided in various ways. R. Blachère divides it into two units v. 11-37 and v. 38-56, dated to the end of the first Meccan period, the long v. 31 being "a Medinian addition to be dated to 623 or 624; it is a refutation of the objections raised in Medinian Jewish circles by the content of v. 30". By its form, this very long verse differs considerably from the others, and, since it is a response to objections raised by v. 30, it was logical that a certain amount of time should have elapsed between v. 30 and v. 31 (Tradition places the revelation of this verse, like all the others, from v. 8 to v. 56, within the framework of the history of Walīd al-Mughīra).

J. Berque roughly follows Blachère's division, distinguishing three sequences in this sura v.1-10 (he thus groups together the two units clearly distinguished in Blachère, v.1-7 and 8-10, and we shall see that the rhetoric proves him right), v.11-37 and 38-53. Like Mawdūdī, he regards v. 54-56 as a theological conclusion.
Taking up the opinion of Muhammad 'Ali and Yusuf Ali, the American version of the Qur'an, due to T.B. Irving, divides the sura into two sections v. 1-31 and 32-56. The first section is said to be a description of the Last Trumpet, the Proud Man and the Hellfire, while the second section is said to set out the conditions of individual responsibility. For Muhammad Ali, in the first section, the Prophet is invited to warn, while the second section contains the warning itself.
P. Crapon de Caprona, based on his metrical theory, takes up Blachère's divisions, but groups them into two 'elements' element A comprising v. 1-7 + v. 11-37, and element B, v. 8-10 + v. 38-56. The obvious disadvantage of this division is that it does not respect the order of the text as it appears in the final Qur'an.
A. Neuwirth, based on the study of rhyme and content, discerns three sections in this sura v. 1-10 (subdivided into 1-7 and 8-10), v. 11-48 (subdivided into 11-17, 18-26, 27-37, 38-4 and v. 49-55.

The list of these attempts to divide Sura 74 is not exhaustive. It can be seen that some divisions are unanimous (vv. 1-7), while others differ completely, or are variously grouped vv. 8-10, for example, do they relate to what precedes (Berque, Neuwirth), or to what follows (Blachère, Mawdūdī)?
In the face of these hesitations of translators and critics, can rhetorical analysis shed some light on the attempt to discern, from the data of the text itself, what the structure of this sura is in the end, in its canonical version? The aim is not only to make a thematic division of the text, but to seek how its different parts are organised in order to constitute a meaningful whole. The interest of the rhetorical method is to show that a text which at first sight seems rather disjointed is not a simple juxtaposition of scattered units assembled in a more or less arbitrary manner, but that a whole editorial work has presided over the structuring of these units into a coherent and logical whole, even if this logic does not correspond to ours! It should be noted that this is a study of the composition of the text, and not a complete exegesis of the sura.

II. RHETORICAL ANALYSIS OF SURA 74

As will gradually become apparent, rhetorical analysis allows us to distinguish, in this sura, three parts arranged in a concentric form AXA', the centre X corresponding to verse 31.
The first part A (1-30) is composed of two sub-parts (1-15; 16-30). Part 3 consists of three subparts (32-37; 38-53; 54-56), also arranged in a concentric form.
The second part A' consists of verse 31 alone, which forms a (central) subpart.
The first part will be analysed from the level of the piece. The next two parts will be analysed from the level of the part or subpart**.

** Let us recall the scale of rhetorical levels that we will use, in their ascending order
the term < the member < the segment < the piece < the part < the passage.
See M. CUYPERS, La composition du Coran, Rhétorique Sémitique 9, Pendé 2012 (chap. 3, "Les
levels of composition", 35-70).