is it described without qualification as something like it. Rather, the Most High says:

“Say, ‘If mankind and jinn gathered together to produce the like of this Quran, they could not produce its like.’”

Whenever the Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) uttered a statement, he would repeat it three times. It may nevertheless be called its like in a qualified sense. Thus, someone reporting another person’s words may say, “This is how so-and-so spoke,” meaning that he said something like this. One also says, “He did this ʿawdan ʿalā badʾ (a repetition after an initial act),” when he does something a second time after the first. Related expressions are al-biʾr al-badī (a newly dug well) and al-biʾr al-ʿādī (a well dug again): the former is one dug for the first time, and the latter one dug again. The latter designation is not derived from the name ʿĀd, as has been claimed.

One says, “I asked him to repeat something, and he repeated it,” when asking him to do it a second time. From this comes the word ʿādah (habit). The expressions ʿādahu, iʿtādahu, and taʿawwadahu mean that something became a habit for him. One also says, “He accustomed his dog to hunting, and it became accustomed to it.” This derives from muʿāwadah, which means returning to the original activity. A brave man is described as muʿāwid (one who returns to the fray), because he never tires of combat. One says, “His fever returned,” and, “He returned to him with the question,” meaning that he asked him repeatedly. People are said to engage in taʿāwud (returning to one another), in war or otherwise, when each side returns to the other. Al-ʿuwwād, pronounced with an initial u-vowel, denotes food served again after some of it has already been eaten. And ʿawādi means ʿud (“Return!”), just as nazāli means inzil (“Come down!”).

In all these cases, the term “repetition” is used with regard to the reality in question: the reality present on the second occasion is the same as on the first, even though the individual instances are distinct. Hence, one may say, “It is like it,” or, “This is that very thing,” and both are correct. By “reality,” I mean that which is specific to that individual instance; what is meant is not what is shared between