Aesthetics in Surat al-Mulk: Mathematical Typology as Metaphysical Mirror

Qur’an 67, surat al-mulk (‘surat of the kingdom’), describes the seven heavens in a sharply contoured image. this cosmographic image is one of the few textual icons forming the ‘quranic literary iconography’. the divine light contained in a lamp within a niche in surat al-nur (‘surat of the light’, 24), or the glass sarh of solomon’s palace, in surat al-naml (‘surat of the ants’, 27), constitute other examples among these icons. this essay argues that, by means of the heavenly description, surat al-mulk conveys an aesthetic meaning that is pivotal to its religious rhetoric. as a complement, this study includes an examination of the surat’s phraseology by the linguist muhammad husain kazi.