Chapter Thirteen (1)
On demonstrating that the Qur’an’s being made easy for remembrance is incompatible with assigning to it an interpretation that contradicts its reality and outward sense.

Allah, exalted is He, sent down the Book as a healing for what is in the breasts and as guidance and mercy for the believers; (2) consequently, its meanings are the noblest of meanings, and its words are the most eloquent, the clearest, and the most perfectly aligned with the meanings intended by them. He—glorified be He—described His Book when He said, “They do not bring you any parable but that We bring you the truth and the best explanation” (Al-Furqan 25:33). The truth is the meaning and referent contained in the Book, while the best explanation is the wording that points to that truth; these words are thus its tafsīr (exegesis) and elucidation.

The term tafsīr is originally derived (3) from the root signifying manifestation and clarification, and in the broader etymological connection (4) it meets the word isfār, from which comes the phrase asfara al-fajr—when dawn becomes bright and clear; from it, too, is safar, the act of traveling, because the traveler emerges from his dwellings and becomes visible; and likewise sifr (5), a written volume that discloses and clarifies the knowledge within it. Accordingly, tafsīr must correspond to what is being explained and render it intelligible, (6) and the clearer and more evident the understanding drawn from it, the more complete and better (7) the tafsīr becomes. Therefore, you will never find any discourse