the afterlife, seated with “a most powerful king.” The constant repetition in this surah is particularly relevant, as it contributes to the overall development of God's character. In his many rhetorical questions such as, “We have made it easy to learn lessons from the Quran: will anyone take heed?” and the final question directed towards Muhammad, “Are your disbelievers any better than these?” Firstly, the constant repetition of the Quranic lessons question establishes God as merciful and fair in his punishment, as He ensures that He gave the unbelievers full warning and clear direction; however, they chose not to follow His commands and are thus deserving of their respective punishments. As the surah ends, however, God asserts his ability to inflict punishment upon the disbelievers: “when We ordain something it happens at once, in the blink of an eye; We have destroyed the likes of you in the past. Will anyone take heed?”. With this final rhetorical question, God instead establishes the breadth of His power, as He highlights the utter immediacy with which He could rid the earth of the unbelievers. However, He ensures that His omnipotence will benefit the righteous, as they will live “secure in the presence of an all-powerful Sovereign”. Appendix Notes References Qamar