Sūra Al‑Baqara
If You Were to Ask: The Qur’an is both miraculous and concise, yet in it some things are apparently frequently repeated, such as the Bismillāh In the Name of Allah, the Merciful, the Compassionate, and the verses Then which of the favours of your Lord and Sustainer will you deny? and Ah woe that Day to the rejecters of truth! and the story of Moses. Aren’t such repetitions tedious and contrary to eloquence?
You Would Be Told: Everything that shines does not scorch. Yes, repetitions are sometimes tedious, but not always. Sometimes they are boring, and sometimes appreciated and admired. The food man eats includes both basic sustenance and fruit.
The more The Former is repeated, the greater the pleasure it affords; it gives strength and the body becomes accustomed to it.
But The Latter gives rise to boredom when repeated and provides pleasure when replaced with something new.
In just the same way, some words and speech are reality (ḥaqīqa) and basic sustenance; they strengthen the mind and feed the spirit.
The more they are repeated, the better they seem and the more familiar they become, like sunlight.
Then others are like fruits and embellishments; they give pleasure on being varied in respect of sort and appearance (lit. apparel). Having understood this, you should know that as a whole the Qur’an is sustenance for hearts and strength and its repetition causes not boredom, but for the most part delight and pleasure. Similarly, in the Qur’an are parts that are the spirit of that sustenance and strength; the more they are repeated, the more brilliantly they shine, scattering lights of truth and reality.
Among these latter are some like the Bismillāh (In the Name of Allah, the Merciful, the Compassionate) that are essential principles, sources of life, and embodied eternal lights. Savour them, if you have any taste! But this is dependent on acceptance of the repetitions. The story of Moses may be taken as an example: in each place (maqām) [it is found, it is repeated] for one of the aspects it comprises. It is more useful than the parts of his staff; the Qur’an takes it as silver in its white, shining hand and pours it out as gold so that the sorcerers of rhetoric prostrated before its eloquence.
Similarly, in the Bismillāh there are different facets, some expressing the seeking of help and blessings; some looking to the subject [of the sura in question], indeed, its aim; others indicating that it is an index of the fundamental points of the Qur’an.
Also contained in the Bismillāh are different levels [of meaning], those of divine unity (tawḥīd), and declaring Allah free of human attributes (tanzīh), and praise, and divine glory (jalāl) and beauty (jamāl), and that of working righteousness (iḥsān), and so on.
The Bismillāh also infers various ordinances: for instance, it indicates divine unity, prophethood, the resurrection of the dead, and justice; that is, the Qur’an’s well‑known four [main] aims. Most suras have [only] one of them as its primary aim, while the rest are secondary. So why shouldn’t one of the Bismillāh’s facets or ordinances or levels [of meaning] have a particular relation with the spirit of the sura [in question], and be the topic of that context, indeed, a concise index of all those aspects and levels?