The fundamental mistake here is that the word “interpretation” (taʾwīl) is equivocal. Sometimes it refers to what the statement ultimately points to: thus, the taʾwīl of a report is the very matter being reported, and the taʾwīl of Allah’s Names and Attributes is His sanctified Essence endowed with the attributes of perfection. At other times the term is used interchangeably with “exegesis” (tafsīr), meaning the clarification of the intended sense, even though we do not perceive its exact manner or reality—just as we know that the Garden contains wine, milk, water, honey, gold, silk, and other delights, even though we