Classical Arabic poetry often employed a striking prelude: imagery, recollection, simile, or an evocative scene captured attention before the main argument. The prelude prepared the listener to receive what followed.
Certain surahs likewise open with a scene, an oath, or an extraordinary image. The comparison is limited. The Qur’an is not poetry, and its openings serve revelation’s purposes of guidance and remembrance.
The point of similarity is rhetorical: powerful discourse need not begin with a dry subject definition. An evocative first line may bring a listener to a state of attention from which the intended admonition becomes clearer.