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القرآن
2 Time, condition, question 3 / 12

The cosmic series of « إِذَا » end in the Self

Established rule 3 examples 1 min

Three suras open with a series of clauses in إِذَا describing the upheaval of the world (the sun, the stars, the seas, the graves). The series never ends in the world, but in a being: "a Self will know what it has …" (81:14, 82:5), or "O human being!" (84:6).

Sura 81 lines up twelve clauses in إِذَا, from the sun wrapped up to the Garden brought near, and the answer takes three words: « عَلِمَتْ نَفْسٌۭ مَّآ أَحْضَرَتْ », "a Self will know what it has brought forward". Sura 82 does the same in four clauses: « عَلِمَتْ نَفْسٌۭ مَّا قَدَّمَتْ وَأَخَّرَتْ », "a Self will know what it has put forward and kept back". Sura 84 describes the sky splitting and the earth spread out, then addresses man directly: « يَٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلْإِنسَٰنُ », "O human being!".

The cosmic upheaval is thus never described for its own sake: everything converges on what an individual will discover of his own deeds. The clauses in إِذَا are rendered in the future ("When the sun is wrapped up"), following the rule of the system إذا / إن / لو. The answer عَلِمَتْ نَفْسٌۭ is rendered identically in both suras: "a Self will know".

In the text

Example 81:14
عَلِمَتْ نَفْسٌۭ مَّآ أَحْضَرَتْ
“a Self will know what it has brought forward”
Twelve clauses in إِذَا (81:1-13), a single answer.
Example 82:5
عَلِمَتْ نَفْسٌۭ مَّا قَدَّمَتْ وَأَخَّرَتْ
“a Self will know what it has put forward and kept back”
Same answer, same rendering.
Example 84:6
يَٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلْإِنسَٰنُ إِنَّكَ كَادِحٌ
“O human being! Indeed, you are laboring toward your Guardian”
Variant: the series ends in a direct address.