what has been elucidated therein, to fear Allah, shield himself from Him, remain ever mindful of Him, and feel shame before Him. For he has been laden with the burdens borne by the messengers and will stand on the Day of Resurrection as a witness against the followers of other communities who defied them.

Allah the Exalted says:
“Thus We have made you a middle nation so that you might be witnesses over mankind…” (Q 2:143).

Indeed, the argument against one who knows the Qur’an yet neglects it is weightier than against one who fell short of learning it and remained ignorant. Whoever is granted knowledge of the Qur’an but gains no benefit from it—its prohibitions fail to restrain him, he perpetrates ugly sins and scandalous crimes—the Qur’an will testify against him and contend with him. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, “The Qur’an is an argument either for you or against you,” a ḥadith recorded by Muslim.

It is therefore incumbent upon anyone whom Allah has singled out to preserve His Book to recite it as it should be recited, ponder the realities of its expressions, grasp its marvels, and discern its wonders. Allah the Exalted says:
“This is a blessed Book We have sent down to you so that they may reflect upon its verses” (Q 38:29),

and He says:
“Do they not contemplate the Qur’an? Or are there locks upon their hearts?” (Q 47:24).

May Allah make us among those who safeguard it as it ought to be safeguarded, ponder it with due reflection, uphold its justice, fulfil its conditions, seek no guidance except through it, and whom He guides to its manifest signposts and its decisive, radiant rulings. May He, through it, gather for us the good of this world and the Hereafter, for He is worthy of reverence and forgiveness.

He then entrusted to His Messenger ﷺ the clarification of what in it is general, the explanation of what is ambiguous, and the verification of what is open to various possibilities, so that, together with conveying the message, his distinctive rank and the station of delegated authority would be evident. Allah the Exalted says:
“We have sent down to you the Reminder so that you may make clear to people what has been sent down to them” (Q 16:44).

After the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, He charged the scholars with deriving what He had indicated of its meanings and pointed to of its principles, so that through their striving they might arrive at knowledge of the intended sense, thereby distinguishing themselves from others and earning the reward of their ijtihād. Allah the Exalted says:
“Allah will raise in ranks those of you who believe and those who have been given knowledge” (Q 58:11).

Thus the Book became the foundation, the Sunnah its expositor, and the scholars’ deductions its illumination and elucidation. All praise is due to Allah, who has made our hearts repositories of His Book, our ears channels for the Sunan of His Prophet, and our aspirations devoted to learning them both and probing their meanings and subtleties, seeking thereby the pleasure of the Lord of all worlds and progressing thereby in the knowledge of creed and religion.

And now—since the Book of Allah is the guarantor that gathers every science of the Sacred Law, comprehensive of Sunnah and obligatory rulings alike, brought down by the Trustworthy One of heaven to the Trustworthy One of earth—I have resolved to occupy myself with it for the whole span of my life and to expend