57: Iron
This chapter containing 29 verses
in four sections from the Madinese period was
revealed after The Earthquake 99
and before Muhammad 47. It is composed
in a different style from those immediately before and after it, because
its verses
are longer, like those found in other chapters composed in Madina.
It begins in a lyric mood with a hymn to God's omnipresence (I) and then
presents a picture of hypocrites begging for light to guide them (II).
Other subjects
discussed are showers of rain (III), different prophets (IV) monasticism
and finally
God's bounty or grace. Iron, which gives the chapter its title, is mentioned
as the
source of physical power (III).