Another view is that the inhabitants of the heavens recite it in their worship just as the inhabitants of the earth do, and it is related from ʿUmar that it is the prayer of the angels.
Yet another explanation is that its revelation was repeated, for it came down twice—once in Mecca and once in Medina.
Others say it is singled out from all the other revealed scriptures, as will be mentioned later (1).
Still another opinion is that its words themselves come in pairs: al-Rahman al-Rahim (the Most Compassionate, the Most Merciful); iyyaka naʿbudu wa iyyaka nastaʿin (You alone we worship and You alone we seek help from); al-sirata al-mustaqim sirata alladhina (the straight path—the path of those…); al-maghdubi ʿalayhim wa la al-dallin (those who have incurred wrath and those who are astray) (2); as well as the repeated phrase ʿalayhim…ʿalayhim. In ʿUmar’s recitation it reads: “not those who have incurred wrath nor those who are astray.” Because all these expressions occur two by two, the surah is called al-Mathani for that reason.
Know, moreover, that the term mathani is used in two distinct senses:

1. With respect to words whose very wording is doubled and repeated.
2. With respect to themes whose kinds and categories are reiterated; for