from Ibn ʿAbbās, who said concerning the words of the Most High, “Oft-repeated”: “Some of it explains other parts, and some parts refer back to others.”

It is also related from al-Hasan that he said: “Allah has reiterated His judgments in it: one surah contains a verse, and another contains a verse resembling it.” Likewise, ʿIkrima said: “Allah has reiterated His judgments in it.” Al-Dahhāk said: “Statements are repeated so that they may understand what their Lord—Blessed and Exalted is He—conveys to them.”

Thus Ibn ʿAbbās regarded the mathānī as belonging to the category of mutually resembling passages, namely, corresponding passages