It is narrated from Sayyiduna Abdullah bin Abbas, may Allah be pleased with them both, that he said: I asked Sayyiduna Uthman, may Allah be pleased with him: Why did you decide to combine Surah Al-Anfal, which is among the Mathani surahs, and Surah At-Tawbah, which is among the Mi'in surahs, and you did not write the line of "Bismillah ir-Rahman ir-Raheem" between them, and you included them among the seven long surahs? What is the reason for this? Sayyiduna Uthman, may Allah be pleased with him, said: Sometimes it would happen that for a long period no revelation would descend upon the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, and sometimes several surahs would be revealed at once. In any case, when revelation would descend upon the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, he would call the scribe and say to him: Write these verses in the surah in which such-and-such matters are mentioned. If another verse was revealed, he would again say: Write this verse in the surah in which such-and-such is mentioned. Now, Surah Al-Anfal is the surah that was revealed at the beginning in Madinah, and Surah At-Tawbah is among the last surahs revealed in the Noble Qur'an, while their subject matter is similar. Meanwhile, the Noble Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, passed away, and he did not clarify to us (about these two surahs). Therefore, I thought that Surah Al-Anfal is a part of Surah At-Tawbah, so I combined the two and did not write the line of "Bismillah ir-Rahman ir-Raheem" between them, and I placed them among the seven long surahs.