Surah 102
At-Takāthur
التكاثر
8 verses · Meccan
Key structural observations
- Alhākum names the distracted addressees and at-takāthur what diverted them. Ḥattā gives this distraction its limit: visiting the graves (1–2).
- Three occurrences of kallā interrupt distraction. The first two are followed by sawfa taʿlamūn; the third introduces law taʿlamūna ʿilma l-yaqīn, moving from announced knowledge to the condition of certain knowledge (3–5).
- Taʿlamūn occurs three times and ʿilm shares its root. The knowledge in the two warnings has no expressed object; what follows names al-Jaḥīm, then an-naʿīm as the object of questioning (3–6, 8).
- Al-yaqīn connects ʿilm and ʿayn. Two verbs of seeing, strengthened by lām and nūn, move from the name al-Jaḥīm to the pronoun hā; the final verb retains the emphasis in the passive: you will be questioned (5–8).
- Three occurrences of thumma accompany the renewed warning, repeated vision and final questioning. From the opening takāthur to the closing naʿīm, what fed rivalry regains the meaning of a gift for which to answer (1, 4, 7–8).