—after He had already declared that He knows the unseen, that past events do not escape His sight, that no sound eludes His hearing, that He possesses full power, that He speaks and that speech proceeds from Him, and that He is above the Throne, not beneath the earth—far exalted and sublime is He above such assertions.

Once you have grasped this and are certain of it, you will know what can be subject to abrogation and what cannot. Thus, if you come upon a verse whose outward wording leads you to suppose that it abrogates one of His earlier statements—such as His words about Pharaoh, “Until, when drowning overtook him, he said, ‘I believe…’” (10:90), or the Almighty’s words, “We will surely test you until We make evident those of you who strive and those who are patient” (47:31)—

he goes on to say: A group have interpreted that Allah intended to spare Pharaoh’s body from the Fire because he professed faith at the moment of drowning, claiming that Allah speaks only of the people of Pharaoh as entering the Fire.