articulate the loftiest forms of exposition, whose counsel, guidance, and beneficence are perfect, and whose very purpose is to make the meaning plain, not to veil it in ambiguity or riddles.

For this reason, when the distorters let loose their spurious reinterpretations upon the revealed texts, the religion suffered corruption. Had not Allah—exalted is He—pledged to preserve it, appointing for it guardians whom He has charged (1) to protect it from the taʾwīl of the ignorant and the fabrications of the falsifiers (2), it would have met the same fate as the former religions. Yet, by His mercy and solicitude for this community, Allah continues to raise up, whenever the sunnah fades and innovation prevails, those who will renew its religion; and He never ceases to plant in His religion people whom He employs in its service, both in knowledge and in action.

Just as taʾwīl, when unleashed upon the sciences of mankind, ruins them, so too, when it is applied to their everyday discourse, it corrupts both expression and comprehension, making it impossible for any nation ever to live by it. It runs counter to the faculty of communication that Allah taught humanity so that their interests in this world and the next might be secured. What has already been set forth on this matter is sufficient (3), and success is from Allah.