(1) That is, the surahs that resemble one another in subject-matter—such as exhortation, maxims, or narratives—not those that merely have the same number of verses, as will become clear once they are specified. Al-Muhibb al-Tabari said: “I used to think the intent was that they are equal in verse-count, but when I checked I found none of them identical.” He records this in Fath al-Bari. (2) Scholars disagree over what is meant by the mufassal, though they agree that it ends with the close of the Quran. Al-Hafiz (2/198) lists ten views, one of which is that it begins with Surah al-Hujurat; he then remarks, “This is the preferred view, as al-Nawawi states.” Elsewhere (2/206) he writes: “It was mentioned earlier that, on the sound view, it starts with Surah Qaf and runs to the end of the Quran.” These are his words; yet there he merely cited that opinion among others without authenticating or preferring it, whereas he actually favoured its starting point as Surah al-Hujurat, following al-Nawawi. Allah knows best. It is called mufassal (“frequently separated”) because, on the sound view, its surahs are continually separated by the basmalah, as al-Hafiz explains. He then adds (2/207): “This does not contradict what will come in the section on tahajjud—that he combined Surah al-Baqarah with other long surahs—for that should be regarded as exceptional.” He said: _________ (1) I later found him saying (2/156): “Regarding the definition of the mufassal, six views will be mentioned in the chapter on the virtues of the Quran; the soundest is that it begins with Surah Qaf and continues to the end of the Quran.” These are his earlier words.