—or a little more, or a little less.

The Mathani comprise everything besides these and besides the Detailed. They are called Mathani, it is said, because they come after the Hundreds, as though the Hundreds are the first set and these the second; it is also said that they bear this name because narratives, parables, statutes, and legal limits are repeated (yuthannā) within them. This explanation is transmitted from Ibn ʿAbbas and Saʿid ibn Jubayr.

Al-Fatiha therefore belongs to the category of the Mathani, for it is neither one of the Seven Lengthy Surahs, nor one of the Hundreds, nor one of the Detailed; it must, then, be counted among the Mathani. The Prophet ﷺ, however, singled it out with the title “the Seven Mathani” because, among all the other Mathani surahs, it possesses distinctive features that render it more deserving of the name—such as its being recited twice in every unit of prayer and the like. In this way it became a class of its own, hence it was termed “the Seven Mathani,” even though the wording recorded by al-Tirmidhi states that the Prophet ﷺ said, “It is seven of the Mathani and the Magnificent Qur’an that I have been granted.” (1)

The fifth name: al-Qur’an al-ʿAzim (the Magnificent Qur’an). The Prophet ﷺ will be quoted below as saying concerning al-Fatiha, “It is the Seven Mathani and the Magnificent Qur’an that I have been given.” (2)