﴿Discourse on the Interpretation of the Names of the Opening of the Book﴾

Abū Jaʿfar said: The report from the Messenger of God, peace and blessings of God be upon him, has been authenticated through what—

134- Yūnus ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā narrated to me, saying: Ibn Wahb narrated to us, saying: Ibn Abī Dhi'b reported to me, from Saʿīd al-Maqburī, from Abū Hurayra, from the Messenger of God, peace and blessings of God be upon him, that he said: "It is the Mother of the Qur'an, it is the Opening of the Book, and it is the Seven Oft-Repeated."

So these are the names of the Opening of the Book.

It was named "the Opening of the Book" because the writing of the Qur'anic codices is opened with it, and it is recited in the prayers; thus it serves as an opening for the chapters of the Qur'an that follow it in writing and recitation.

It was named "the Mother of the Qur'an" due to its precedence over all other chapters of the Qur'an, and because everything else comes behind it in recitation and writing. That aspect of its meaning is similar to the meaning of "the Opening of the Book." It was called—by virtue of being so—the Mother of the Qur'an because the Arabs call everything that comprehends a matter—or precedes a matter when it has followers that succeed it, serving as a comprehensive leader for them—an "mother" (umm). Thus, they call the membrane that encompasses the brain "the mother of the head". And they call the army's standard and banner under which they gather "the mother". Of that is the statement of Dhū al-Rummah, describing a banner tied to a spear under which he and his companions gather: