Pairs
in
Creation and Revelation

Exalted is He who created all pairs - from what the earth grows and from themselves and from that which they do not know.
Qur'an 36:36

And of all things We have created pairs so that you may remember.
Qur'an 51:49

يَا مَن يُّقَلِّبُ اللَّيْلَ وَالنَّهَارَ

O You who make the night and day rotate,

يَا مَن جَعَلَ الظُّلُمَاتِ وَالأَنْوَارَ

O You who situated the darkness and the lights,

يَا مَنْ خَلَقَ الظِّلَّ وَالْحَرُورَ

O You who created shade and heat,

يَا مَنْ سَخَّرَ الشَّمْسَ وَالْقَمَرَ

O You who subjected the sun and the moon,

يَا مَن قَدَّرَ الْخَيْرَ وَالشَّرَّ

O You who ordained good and evil,

يَا مَنْ خَلَقَ الْمَوْتَ وَالْحَيَاةَ

O You who created death and life,

يَا مَن لَّهُ الْخَلْقُ وَالأَمْرُ

O You who to whom belong creation and command.

يَا مَن لَّمْ يَتِّخِذْ صَاحِبَةً وَّلا وَلَداً

O You who have neither taken a spouse nor a child,

يَّا مَن لَّيْسَ لَهُ شَرِيكٌ فِي الْمُلْكِ

O You who has no partner in sovereignty,

يَا مَن لَّمْ يَكُن لَّهُ وَلِيٌّ مِّنَ الذُّلِّ

O You who have not taken any protector out of weakness,

Duʿa'al-Jawshan al-Kabir (62)

al-Kabir (62)

“Tawhid is the essence of Islam and its characteristics of unity, harmony, and oneness are what make Islam unique, comprehensive, and all-encompassing. It is this sense of mystery that makes it simple and understandable for ordinary people, and yet complex and difficult for great scholars and philosophers, who spend all their lives in pursuit of the truth in an attempt to discover the mysteries of the Qur'an.

It is this blend of simplicity and complexity,
of the absolute and the relative,
the stable and the mutable,
the eternal and the temporal,
the soul and the body,
good and evil,
that challenges humankind and urges it to search for the truth.”

Al Zeera, Z. (2001). Wholeness and Holiness in Education: An Islamic Perspective: An Islamic Perspective. International Institute of Islamic Thought (IIIT).

Dialectics of Tawhid

Pairs in the Qur'an

The organization of ayahs or surahs might reflect different patterns that reflect pairs:
- Parallelism: A B C A B C
- Concentrism: A B C C' B' A'
- Chiasm: A B C ... X ... C' B' A'
Two surahs might be considered a pair when they have similar themes and/or wording.

Al-Mu'awwidhatayn (Surah al-Falaq and Surah an-Nas)

Surah ad-Duha and ash-Sharh

Surah al-Fil and Surah Quraysh

Az-Zahrawan (Surah al-Baqarah and Surah Al-i ʿImran)

Surah al-Ankabut and Surah ar-Rum

Scholars have identified over 50 pairs of (consecutive) surahs!

Surah Ya Sin and aṣ-Ṣaffat

Both begin with vows.
Both end with glorifying Allah (not common!).
Both contain short ayahs that begin with سلامٌ.
Both contain the phrase الْفُلْكِ الْمَشْحُونِ.
Ya Sin alludes to some messengers (not by name) and As-Saffat discusses the stories of messengers in detail.
- Both include the word المرسلين which appears commonly in three pairs of surahs!