Many well-known authors' chronologies, including that of Ibn Kathir,[3] place Surat al-Muddaththir as the second surah revealed to the Islamic prophet Muhammad, citing the hadith: Jabir ibn Abd Allah told, I heard the Messenger of Allah – and he was narrating about the pause in Revelation – so he said in his narration: "I was walking, when I heard a voice from the heavens.
[7] Although reports exist of revelation order other than second, the thematic elements of preparation for the Day of Judgment and warnings for the non-believers are consistent with other early Meccan suras.
Verses 1-30 and 32-56 are composed of short, poetic lines which maintain rhyme structure and the Arabic rhetorical device of parallel construction.
Verses 3-7 are injunctions, then, for him (or whoever follows the righteous path of God) to maintain cleanliness, monotheism, humility, and patience in his own life.
Verses 8-30 describe the rejection of God's word and the excruciating consequences that result.
Some scholars, such as Sayyid Qutb, have stated that verse 31 serves as an explanation of verse 30 that was added after early Muslims and unbelievers alike questioned the specificity of the nineteen angels:[8] "We have appointed none other than angels to guard the fire, and We have made their number a test for the unbelievers.
Thus those who have been granted revelations in the past may be convinced and the believers may grow more firm in their faith; and so those who have been granted revelations and the believers will entertain no doubt; but the sick at heart and the unbelievers will ask, "What could God mean by this image?"
(74:31) Thus, verse 31 explains the mystery of the nineteen angels by portraying the number as a marker of faith.
The next section of Surat al-Muddaththir uses the tangible, accessible physical world as proof that the devastation which awaits the unbelievers will be equally real (74:32-36).
Verses 37-47 describe the trial of the soul in Saqar, and the decisions of the individuals who found themselves there.