And both statements are correct in their own respect, as we have explained elsewhere; for this reason both views have been transmitted from Ibn ʿAbbās, and each of them is sound.

Taʾwīl in the Quran and the Sunnah:

The third meaning of taʾwīl is the actual reality to which the wording ultimately points, even when that reality agrees with the surface meaning. Thus, the taʾwīl of what the Revelation tells us about eating, drinking, clothing, marriage, the advent of the Hour, and the like in Paradise is the very realities themselves as they will exist—not the concepts imagined in the mind and expressed by the tongue. This is the usage of taʾwīl in the language of the Quran, as when Allah relates Joseph’s words: “My father, this is the fulfillment (taʾwīl) of my earlier dream; my Lord has made it come true” (Yusuf 100); or His statement: “Are they waiting for anything except its fulfillment? The day its fulfillment comes, those who had forgotten it before will say, ‘Indeed, the messengers of our Lord came with the truth’” (al-Aʿrāf 53); and His words: “If you disagree about anything, refer it to Allah and the Messenger—if you believe in Allah and the Last Day—for that is best and yields the finest outcome (taʾwīl)” (al-Nisāʾ 59).

This kind of taʾwīl is known only to Allah.