Rhythmic Aesthetics in Surah An-Naaziaat and Surah At-Takwir

The miracle of the Quran has several aspects, one most important of which is the rhythm of ayahs and their attractive music. This type of rhythm is clearly visible in short surahs such as An-Naazi`aat and At-Takwir which are the focus of our attention in the present study. Rhythm is highly important in the Quran since its function is not only to linguistically beautify the Quran but also to play a pivotal role in the conveyance of divine concepts. Thus, it is necessary to discover the mystery of this rhythmic majesty and divine meanings that appear in ayah's ending words and the sounds of the Quran and to grasp the relationship between form and meaning, which contributed to considering such rhythm among the significant aspects of the Quranic miracle. Taking a descriptive and analytical approach in this study, we aimed at explicating the mystery of this rhythmic beauty and how it is related with divine meanings in An-Naazi`aat and At-Takwir surahs in two parts: ayah's ending words in the two surahs and their sounds. The results of this study show that the high frequency of asymmetric and symmetric ending words in ayahs of the two surahs as well as the presence of nasal vowels, liquids, and glides have created pleasant and influential rhythm. Ending words in unconditioned ayahs and ending words in conditioned ayahs are mostly used where the concepts necessitate their special features. Furthermore, this article shows that each of the voiced, voiceless, plosive, fricative, affricate, nasals, liquids and glides are more frequent where the meanings of ayahs are in close relationship with their distinctive features.