and error, for Allah—exalted is He—has sent down His speech as a clarification and a guidance. If, however, He had meant something contrary to its outward sense and had not surrounded His words with indications pointing to that alternative meaning, one that would not spontaneously occur to everyone’s understanding, then it would be neither clarification nor guidance.

These, then, are some of the criteria by which sound interpretation is distinguished from false interpretation. In Allah alone we seek help.