acting upon what is beneficial and avoiding what is harmful. Hence the Arabs say ḥakamtu al-safīh or aḥkamtuhu (“I restrained the foolish person”) when they take him firmly in hand, and ḥakamtu al-dābbata or aḥkamtuhā (“I controlled the mount”) when they fit it with a ḥakama—the strap of the bridle that encircles the lower jaw. To render something muḥkam, then, is to make it firm and perfected; accordingly, speech is muḥkam when it is perfected by distinguishing truth from falsehood in its reports and guidance from error in its commands.

The Qur’an in its entirety is muḥkam in this sense of flawless perfection, for Allah has called it ḥakīm: “Alif–Lām–Rā. These are the verses of the Wise Book” (10:1). Here ḥakīm bears the sense of ḥākim, “judge,” for Allah has made the Qur’an recount matters, as in His words: “Indeed, this Qur’an recounts to the Children of Israel most of that over which they differ” (27:76); He has made it issue legal verdicts, as in His words: “Say: Allah gives you a ruling concerning them, and what is recited to you in the Book” (4:127)—meaning that what is recited to you in the Book delivers the ruling about them; and He has made it a guide and a bearer of glad tidings, as in His words: “Indeed, this Qur’an guides to that which is most upright and gives glad tidings to the believers who do righteous deeds” (17:9).