his household and would supplicate.

Idrīs also related to us: Jarīr narrated, from Manṣūr, from al-Ḥakam, who said:
“Mujāhid, ʿAbdah ibn Lubābah and a group of others used to review the muṣḥafs. When they were about to finish, they would send word to us: ‘Come and attend, for mercy descends at the completion of the Qur’an.’ ”

Idrīs likewise informed us: Khalaf narrated, Hushaym from al-ʿAwām, from Ibrāhīm al-Taymī, who said:
“Whoever completes the Qur’an at the beginning of the day, the angels pray for him until evening; and whoever completes it at the beginning of the night, the angels pray for him until dawn.” He added: “For that reason they preferred to finish either at the start of the night or at the start of the day.”

Among the Qur’an’s sanctity is that one must not write its verses as amulets and then enter the lavatory with them unless they are enclosed in a covering of leather, silver, or the like—so that it is as though the Qur’an were safeguarded within one’s breast. Likewise, when someone writes it and drinks the water in which the writing has been washed, he should utter Allah’s name with every breath and magnify his intention, for Allah grants in proportion to one’s intention.

Layth narrated from Mujāhid who said: “There is no harm in writing the Qur’an and then giving it to a sick person to drink.”

Abū Jaʿfar said: “Whoever feels hardness in his heart should write ‘Yā Sīn’ in a bowl with saffron and then drink it.”

I say: Part of its sanctity is that one must not say, “a small surah.” Abū al-ʿĀliyah disliked the expressions “small surah” or “large surah,” and whenever he heard someone use them he would say, “You are smaller than it; as for the Qur’an, all of it is magnificent.” This was mentioned by Makkī, may Allah have mercy on him.

I also say: Yet Abū Dāwūd has narrated a report that appears to oppose this, from ʿAmr ibn Shuʿayb, from his father, from his grandfather, who said: “Among the chapters of al-Mufaṣṣal there is not a single surah—small or large—except that I heard the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, lead the people in prayer with it.”

Section: What has been reported concerning the warning against interpreting the Qur’an by mere opinion, boldly doing so, and the ranks of the exegetes

It is narrated from ʿĀʾishah, may Allah be pleased with her, that she said: “The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, did not interpret anything from the Book of Allah except a few verses that Gabriel taught him.”

Ibn ʿAtiyyah said: “The meaning of this ḥadīth relates to the unseen matters of the Qur’an and the explanation of its general passages—things that can only be known through the grace of Allah, Exalted is He. Among those unseen matters are things about which Allah has given no knowledge, such as the time when the Hour will arrive and similar issues that may be inferred from its wording, like the number…"