the partisans of figurative interpretation, targeting the very foundations of faith and Islam, and they demolished them by means of that interpretation. The pivot of these ten fundamentals is to believe the Messenger in everything he reports and to obey him in everything he commands. Hence they turned to the most exalted of his reports—what he conveyed about Allah: His names, His attributes, and the perfections of His majesty—and, through interpretation, they stripped those reports of their true meaning and the purpose for which they had been revealed ⦗q 18a⦘.
This class of reports is the noblest of all; faith in them underpins faith in everything else. The Quran—and, indeed, all the divinely revealed scriptures—deal with this subject more than with any other, and the diversity of proofs they provide for its truth exceeds the diversity of proofs they offer for anything else. That is due to the loftiness and greatness of the One to whom it relates and to mankind’s urgent need to know Him. (1) Consequently, the avenues for acquiring this knowledge are more numerous, easier, and clearer than those that lead to any other knowledge.
Such is the perfection of the Lord’s wisdom—exalted is He—and the completeness of His grace and beneficence: whenever the servants’ need for something is stronger and more pressing, His bestowal of it is greater, and the paths that lead to it are more plentiful and accessible. This holds true in matters of creation and command alike. Because their need for air surpasses their need for water and food, air is present with them in every place and at every time, and it is more abundant than anything else. Likewise, since their need for water comes next—seeing that it is the basis of their sustenance, clothing, fruit, and drink—it is provided to them more abundantly than anything else. In the same way, because their need for food outweighs their need for shelter (2), food is more plentifully available. And so it is with the various ranks of necessity.
It is evident, therefore, that their need to know their Lord, their Originator, and the One they worship—glorified be His majesty—surpasses all these needs combined; without such knowledge they can have no happiness, no success, and no genuine well-being.