A rhetoric-thematic analysis of surah Waqi a

The thematic, stylistic, and rhetorical versatility of the Holy Qur’an has led to rich scholarship of Qur’anic studies. Approached as a scripture, this book has mostly been focused on thematically. Comparatively, studies on its rhetorical dimensions and their contribution to its various themes are less in number. The present study deals with both rhetoric and thematic aspects of this book and evinces they both complement one another. The methodology is a hybrid one which adopts and adapts El-Awa’s textual analysis, Michel Cuypers’ rhetoric study, and John Swales’ move analysis. While the first two methods deal with the Qur’anic text, the third one has developed out of the study of scientific texts. This paper picks up the advantages of each method to account for thematic diversities in surah “Waqi’a”. The argument of the study is that, far from being a disintegrated text, “Waqi’a” cherishes thematic unity which is realized by deploying rhetorical devices like symmetry and rhyme profile.