سورة الحجر

Imam Ali (peace be upon him): Asbagh ibn Nubata narrates: A person asked Imam Ali (peace be upon him) about the Night of Qadr on the Night of Qadr. ... Imam Ali (peace be upon him) said: Allah is One and loves the odd, Allah is Unique and has chosen the odd, and He has made the rule of seven flow through all things. Allah the Mighty and Majestic has said: He created seven heavens and of the earth the like of them (Talaq/12). And He said: And He created the seven heavens one above the other (Mulk/3). And He said: Hell has seven gates (Hijr/44). And He said: seven green ears and seven dry ones (Yusuf/43). And He said: seven fat cows which seven lean ones devour (Yusuf/43). And He said: a seed which grows seven ears (Baqarah/261). And He said: سَبْعاً مِنَ المَثانی وَ الْقُرْآنَ الْعَظیمَ [seven of the oft-repeated (verses) and the grand Quran].

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): Samaʿa ibn Mihran said: I asked Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him) about the interpretation of this verse: وَ لَقَدْ آتَیْناکَ سَبْعاً مِنَ المَثانِی وَ الْقُرْآنَ الْعَظِیمَ [And certainly We have given you seven of the oft-repeated (verses) and the grand Quran]. He said: "By Allah, we are the sabʿ al-mathani (seven oft-repeated) and the Face of Allah (Wajh Allah) placed among you; whoever recognizes us and whoever is ignorant of us, before him is death."

Imam Baqir (peace be upon him): Qasim ibn ʿUrwa said: Imam Baqir (peace be upon him) said: The meaning of وَ لَقَدْ آتَیْناکَ سَبْعاً مِنَ المَثانِی وَ الْقُرْآنَ الْعَظِیمَ [And certainly We have given you seven of the oft-repeated (verses) and the grand Quran] is the seven Imams and al-Qa'im (may Allah hasten his noble reappearance).

Imam Kazim (peace be upon him): Samaʿa said: Imam Kazim (peace be upon him) said regarding the verse وَ لَقَدْ آتَیْنَاکَ سَبْعًا مِّنَ المَثَانِی وَ الْقُرْآنَ الْعَظِیمَ [And certainly We have given you seven of the oft-repeated (verses) and the grand Quran]: "[The sabʿ al-mathani] was not given to the prophets except Muhammad (peace be upon him and his family). And the meaning is the seven Imams around whom the celestial sphere revolves. And وَ القُرآنَ العَظِیمَ [and the grand Quran] means Muhammad (peace be upon him and his family)."

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): Yunus ibn Abd al-Rahman said: I asked Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): وَ لَقَدْ آتَیْناکَ سَبْعاً مِنَ الْمَثانِی وَ الْقُرْآنَ الْعَظِیمَ [And certainly We have given you seven of the oft-repeated (verses) and the grand Quran] [what is meant by this?]. He said: "سَبْعاً مِنَ المَثانِی [seven of al-Mathani (the oft-repeated)]; it is Surah al-Hamd, which has seven verses, of which بِسْمِ اللهِ الرَّحْمنِ الرَّحِیمِ [In the name of Allah, the Most Merciful, the Most Compassionate] is one of the verses, and because it is recited twice in the two rak'ahs of prayer, it is called al-Mathani."

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): Sa'd ibn Umar al-Jallab said: I asked Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him) about the word of Allah the Exalted: وَ لَقَدْ آتَیْناکَ سَبْعاً مِنَ المَثانِی وَ الْقُرْآنَ الْعَظِیمَ [And certainly We have given you seven of the oft-repeated (verses) and the grand Quran]. He said: "سَبْعاً مِنَ الْمثانِی [seven of al-Mathani (the oft-repeated)]; it is Fatihat al-Kitab." I said: "Is بِسْمِ اللهِ الرَّحْمنِ الرَّحِیمِ [In the name of Allah, the Most Merciful, the Most Compassionate] also part of Fatihat al-Kitab?" He said: "The most excellent verse of Fatihat al-Kitab, on account of the excellence in it, is [بِسْمِ اللهِ الرَّحْمنِ الرَّحِیمِ]."

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): Muhammad ibn Muslim said: "I asked Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him) about the word of Allah the Exalted وَ لَقَدْ آتَیْنَاکَ سَبْعًا مِّنَ المَثَانِی وَ الْقُرْآنَ الْعَظِیمَ [And certainly We have given you seven of the oft-repeated (verses) and the grand Quran], and he said: what is meant by سَبْعًا مِّنَ المَثَانِی is Surah al-Hamd, in which the speech is doubled. The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) said: 'Allah favoured me with Fatihat al-Kitab, which is from the treasures of the Throne, and in it is بِسْمِ اللهِ الرَّحْمَنِ الرَّحِیمِ.'"

Imam Sajjad (peace be upon him): Then when the utmost of Your mercy reached me, You favoured me through the one by whom You guided me from misguidance, and through whom You saved me from destruction, and delivered me from perplexity, and freed me from ignorance; and that person is Your beloved and Your Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him and his family). He is the closest of Your creation to You and holds the loftiest station with You. So together with him I bore witness to Your Oneness, and I acknowledged Your Lordship and his Messengership, and I made obedience and submission to him incumbent upon myself. So I obeyed him as You commanded, and I affirmed him in what You made binding. You singled him out with the Book which You revealed to him and with al-Sab' al-Mathani (the seven oft-repeated) which was revealed to him, and You named that Book the Quran, and You gave this Book the epithet al-Furqan al-Azim (the Great Criterion). So, O You whose name is exalted, who said: وَ لَقَدْ آتَیْناکَ سَبْعاً مِنَ الْمثانِی وَ الْقُرْآنَ الْعَظِیمَ [And certainly We have given you seven of the oft-repeated (verses) and the grand Quran].

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): Muhammad ibn Muslim said: "I asked Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): 'Are al-Sab' al-Mathani (the seven oft-repeated) and the grand Quran the same as Fatihat al-Kitab?' He said: 'Yes.' I asked: 'Is بِسْمِ اللهِ الرَّحْمنِ الرَّحیم [In the name of Allah, the Most Merciful, the Most Compassionate] part of al-Sab' al-Mathani?' He said: 'Yes, the most excellent of those seven verses is بِسْمِ اللهِ الرَّحْمنِ الرَّحیم.'"

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): Abu Bakr al-Hadrami said: Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him) said: "Whenever you have a need, recite Surah al-Mathani and another surah, perform two rak'ahs of prayer, and supplicate to Allah." I said: "May Allah keep you righteous, what is al-Mathani?" He said: "It is Fatihat al-Kitab; بِسْمِ اللهِ الرَّحْمنِ الرَّحِیمِ الحَمْدُ لِلهِ رَبِّ الْعالَمینَ [In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. Praise be to Allah, the Lord of the worlds]."

Imam Ali (peace be upon him): It was said to Amir al-Mu'minin (peace be upon him): "O master! Inform us, is بِسْمِ اللهِ الرَّحْمنِ الرَّحِیمِ [In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful] part of Fatihat al-Kitab?" He said: "Yes, the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) used to recite it and count it as one verse of Fatihat al-Kitab, and he used to say: 'Fatihat al-Kitab is al-Sab' al-Mathani (the seven oft-repeated).'"

The Prophet (peace be upon him and his family): Sa'd al-Iskaf said: The Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) said: "The long surahs were given to me in place of the Torah, the hundred-verse surahs were given to me in place of the Injil, and Surah al-Hamd was given to me in place of the Zabur [in its entirety]."

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): Ahmad ibn Muhammad al-Sayyari, in the book al-Tanzil wa al-Tahrif, narrated from Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him) that regarding the words of Allah the Mighty and Majestic: وَ لَقَدْ آتَیْناکَ سَبْعاً مِنَ الْمَثانِی وَ الْقُرْآنَ الْعَظِیمَ. بِسْمِ اللهِ الرَّحْمنِ الرَّحیمِ [And certainly We have given you seven of the oft-repeated (verses) and the grand Quran. In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful], he said: "It is the Greatest Name of Allah, and al-Sab' al-Mathani is Ummul Kitab, by which [Allah] is praised twice in every prayer."

The Prophet (peace be upon him and his family): Ghiyath ibn Ibrahim narrates from Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him), from his father (peace be upon him), from his grandfather (peace be upon him), that the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) said: "I was taught سَبْعاً مِنَ المَثانِی [seven of the oft-repeated], and my ummah was shown to me in clay, such that I saw its young and its old, and I looked into all the heavens; when I looked, I saw you, O Ali (peace be upon him)! So I sought forgiveness from Allah the Exalted for you and your Shi'ah until the Day of Resurrection."