«إِنَّ الصَّفَا وَالْمَرْوَةَ مِنْ شَعَائِرِ اللَّهِ»
Indeed, Safa and Marwah are among the symbols of Allah.
Mentioning Safa first does not, by itself, establish that waaw everywhere encodes succession. Beginning the sa‘i at Safa is understood through the Prophetic practice and its explanation. Priority in wording and legal priority in performing an act must not be confused.
The performance can have an established religious order without proving that every occurrence of waaw inherently indicates that order.