and by nightfall become a disbeliever, or go to bed a believer and rise in the morning a disbeliever.” (1)

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The purpose, then, is to set forth the avenues of knowledge, its proofs, and the paths that lead to what is correct. We know that the Quran was recited by the Companions, the Successors, and those who followed them, and that they were the most knowledgeable of its exegesis and meanings, just as they best understood the truth with which Allah sent His Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him). Whoever therefore opposes their statements and interprets the Quran contrary to their interpretation has erred both in the evidence itself and in the conclusion drawn from it.

Explanation
He has erred in the evidence because he interpreted it in a way other than what was intended, and he has erred in the conclusion because he produced a meaning at odds with what the early generations held.

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It is also well known that everyone who departs from their view puts forward some pretext—either rational or textual—as is explained elsewhere.

Explanation
This is correct, and what the shaykh (may Allah have mercy on him) said is rooted in the Quran. Those who deviate always have specious arguments, and Allah alluded to this when He said, “It is He who has sent down to you the Book; in it are verses that are clear—they are the foundation of the Book—and others are ambiguous. As for those in whose hearts is deviance, they follow what is ambiguous of it…” (Āl ʿImrān 3:7). Were a false claimant to present something wholly devoid of any semblance of proof, it would never be accepted; instead he brings matters containing some ambiguity. Yet he—may Allah protect us—harbors deviation and does not subject what is ambiguous to what is clear so that it becomes plain; rather, he treats the entire matter