and conciseness. For it is better for a learner or an orator to employ varied forms of expression than to confine himself to a single form throughout.

Someone may say, “By Allah, I will not do it; again, by Allah, I will not do it,” when he wishes to emphasize his refusal and extinguish any hope that he will do it. Similarly, when seeking brevity, he may say, “By Allah, I will do it,” leaving the negative “not” implicit. To a hurried messenger, one says, “Hurry, hurry!” and to an archer, “Shoot, shoot!”

A poet said:
“How many blessings you once enjoyed—how many, how many!”

Another said:
“Did you ask the hosts of Kindah,
on the day they fled, ‘Where? Where?’”

Sometimes they wish to emphasize a descriptive word but find it awkward to repeat the very same word, so they change one of its letters.’

Ibn Qutaybah said: ‘When Allah enumerated His blessings in this surah, reminded His servants of His favors, and drew their attention to His power, He placed each repeated statement between two blessings, so that they would understand those blessings and acknowledge them. It is like saying to someone: “Did I not give you lodging when you were an outcast? Do you deny this? Did I not take you on pilgrimage when you had never performed it before? Do you deny this?”’”

I say: Ibn Qutaybah said: “The repetition of the words in ‘Say, O disbelievers’