of Allah—and this is perfectly evident. People’s need, indeed their very necessity, to understand the Quran is glaringly obvious, for it is the Book they have been commanded to follow. If a person were instructed to adhere to a work penned by an ordinary author, he would first have to study it and grasp its commentary; how much more so when the Book in question is the Book of Allah, majestic and exalted.

The author—may Allah have mercy on him—then ascribes to the Noble Quran several attributes. He says that it is “the firm Rope of Allah.” It is called a rope because Allah, exalted be He, is the One who sent it down, and a rope is something by which one reaches something else, much like a means (sabab). Hence Allah’s words, “Let him stretch out a means to the heaven” (al-Hajj 22:15), that is, a rope. It is the Rope of Allah because it leads its holder to Allah.

He also describes it as “the wise Reminder,” borrowing the phrase from Allah’s statement, “That which We recite to you of the verses and the wise Reminder” (Āl ʿImrān 3:58). It is a reminder (dhikr) because it brings admonition, and it is an honor (dhikr) because it elevates the standing of all who cling to it, as in His saying, “Indeed it is a reminder for you and for your people” (al-Zukhruf 43:44), meaning a source of exaltation and dignity. The word “wise” (ḥakīm) means either “perfectly formulated” or “replete with consummate wisdom in its rulings.

He further calls it “the straight path”: a path (ṣirāṭ) is a road, and straight (mustaqīm) means even and free of deviation.

And he says that it is “that which desires cannot cause to deviate.” Deviation (zaygh) signifies inclination, as in the expression, “the sun zaghat when it leaned westward.” In other words, no matter how powerful people’s passions become, they can never bend the Quran; it remains constant and unshakeable, regardless of the whims unleashed against it.