Agglutinative Parallelism in the Duality of this word (Dunya) and the Hereafter (Akhira) in the Qur'an

Abstract

This research examines agglutinative parallelism in the Holy Quran, focusing specifically on the textual duality of this world (dunya) and the Hereafter (akhira). This conceptual pairing is characterized by its prominent occurrence throughout the Quranic text, establishing thematic connections between worldly actions and their eschatological consequences. The research investigates the aesthetic dimensions of parallelism in verses containing this duality through morphological agglutinatives—linguistic elements that create rhythmic and structural symmetry between words and phrases.

The methodology employs a tripartite analytical framework. The first component examines prefix parallelism, particularly focusing on the definite article (alif and lam). The second component analyzes gemination (consonant doubling) as a manifestation of morphological parallelism. The third component investigates suffix parallelism through selected morphemes that contribute to parallel structures.

The findings demonstrate that parallelism functions as a literary device to reinforce thematic dualities in the Quranic text, particularly the dunya-akhira  paradigm. The definite article serves multiple grammatical and stylistic functions, enhancing textual coherence, balance, and harmony. Gemination creates phonetic rhythm that heightens auditory attention while intensifying semantic meaning and facilitating memorization. The analysis reveals that agglutinative parallelism operates across multiple linguistic levels—morphological, phonetic, and semantic—extending beyond mere structural symmetry to encompass comprehensive textual integration through the examined prefixes, infixes, and suffixes.