and He did not grant it to anyone before the community of Muhammad ﷺ. Narrated by Abu ʿUbayd (1).

The third virtue: it comes from a treasure beneath the Throne. We have transmitted, through Ṣāliḥ al-Murrī, from Thābit al-Bunānī, from Anas, that the Prophet ﷺ said, “Among the favors with which Allah has honored me is His statement: ‘I have given you the Opening of the Book; it is one of the treasures of My Throne, and I have divided it between Me and you into two halves.’”

ʿAli d. d. reported that the Prophet ﷺ said, “The Opening of the Book, the Throne Verse, ‘Allah bears witness that there is no deity but He’ (Āl ʿImrān 18), and ‘Say: O Allah, Master of sovereignty…’ (Āl ʿImrān 26) are verses suspended from the Throne; there is no veil between them and Allah.” This was recorded by Abu ʿAmr al-Dānī with his chain in Kitāb al-Bayān (2).

The fourth virtue: this surah is singled out for intimate discourse (munājāh) with the Lord, exalted be He, which is why the prayer is distinguished by it. When a worshiper prays, he converses with his Lord, and the servant addresses his Lord only with the noblest and most excellent of speech. The surah is divided between the servant and the Lord into two halves: the first half is praise of the Lord, and the Lord—exalted is He—hears the servant’s address, replies to him, and listens