verses, as understood by those to whom they are addressed, contrary to their intended meaning, such that they may be said to have been interpreted away from their apparent meaning?

Their confusion arises only when they say, “A loan can only be for the borrower’s own need and benefit.” They are told: Grant that this is so in the case of created beings. Here, however, the loan is attributed to Allah, and the meaning is clear and readily understood: giving charity to His servants and spending in His cause. No one has ever understood this to mean that Allah Himself needs to benefit from a loan. At most, one might say that calling this a loan is metaphorical. Yet this metaphor is not the apparent meaning of the expression in its complete wording and construction, which make its meaning explicit, since the loan is attributed to Allah.

Do you not see that the Prophet’s statement (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) about Khālid, “He is one of the swords of