A Systemic Approach to the Fractal Cohesion of Surah Structure with Emphasis on Opening and Closing: the Case of Surah Ar-Rum

Proper realization of the surah structure is a key component in the constant understanding of the atmosphere of ayahs in the semantic system of the Holy Qur’an. Each surah's beginning and ending, as its main components, have significant relationships with other concepts used in the text. The wise proportionality of these two parts is indicative of a sage and prudent Creator. Therefore, this study aimed to discover and extract the connections between the opening and closing of surahs, which leads to a more coherent and comprehensive understanding of their main structures. To this end, it was an attempt to present a model adapted from the Holy Qur’an based on structuralism to respond to the question of how it is possible to understand the harmonic and systemic nature of the surah structure by examining the main elements of its beginning and ending. Therefore, it adopted a new approach by depicting the cohesive relation between the elements of a surah through ideation from fractal geometry whose important feature, highlighting the meaningful repetition of the same components, is concordant in creating the main structure of a design. It thus analyzed the structural links between the beginning and ending of Surah Ar-Rum relying on this model. The use of intra- and inter- componential lexical-semantic evidence leads to a cohesive reading of the concepts of the surah. The features of the two groups of believers and infidels concerning liqā'-Allāh (meeting God), mentioning the components of patience, persistence in the path of faith, jihad and servitude along with the concept of divine command in the inward and outward of existence, and explaining real and conventional relations constitute the conceptual chain connecting the beginning and ending parts, around which this surah is formed.