Thus, the taʾwīl of the Qur’anic passages that speak of the Hereafter is the very reality that God—Exalted is He—has promised therein: the Resurrection, the Reckoning, reward and retribution, Paradise, Hellfire, and all that accompanies them. This is illustrated in the story of Joseph; when his parents and brothers prostrated before him, he said, “Father, this is the fulfillment of my earlier vision” (Qur’an 12:100). In other words, the external event itself was the taʾwīl of the dream.

The second sense of taʾwīl, therefore, is the explanation of speech—that is, the wording by which an expression is clarified so that its meaning is understood, or its rationale or proof is made known. The third taʾwīl is the very reality that exists outside the mind. A case in point is the statement of ʿĀʾisha (may Allah be pleased with her): “The Prophet—peace and blessings be upon him—used to say in his bowing and prostration, ‘Glory be to You, O Allah, our Lord, and with Your praise. O Allah, forgive me,’” thereby interpreting—in practice—the Qur’anic command.