WHY ماتاب instead of تَوبَة ?

Why did Allah used ماتاب (mataba) instead of تَوبَة (tawbah) ?

And whoever repents and does good has truly turned to Allah properly.

(25:71) وَمَن تَابَ وَعَمِلَ صَـٰلِحًۭا فَإِنَّهُۥ يَتُوبُ إِلَى ٱللَّهِ مَتَابًا

Allah could have just said ‏تاب (taba)’ in this ayah and moved on. Repentance accepted, case closed. But He used a different word: مَتَابا (mataba).

Both ‏توبة (tawbah) and مَتَابا (mataba) mean repentance, but they do not carry the same weight. In Arabic, the extra meem hyperbolizes the word. It adds intensity. مَتَابا (Mataba) is powerful repentance, the kind that Allah stamps as real, validated and accepted with emphasis. He did not just acknowledge the ‏توبة (tawbah). He amplified it.

Now look at the context. The ayah before this one is talking about shirk, murder, zina. The gravest sins a human being can commit. Someone carrying that kind of weight might wonder: can repentance really cover this? Is ‏توبة (tawbah) big enough for what I have done? Allah answers that question by choosing a word that does more than accept. It celebrates the return. It tells the person: your repentance is powerful, so powerful that I will replace your evil deeds with good ones.

If Allah validated the repentance from the biggest sins with a word like مَتَابا (mataba), then who are you to doubt your own ‏توبة (tawbah) from lesser ones? Allah already called it powerful. That word choice, sitting quietly inside one ayah, is itself a mercy most people walk right past.