And success comes from Allah.

I say: He mentioned both positions without preferring either, and without mentioning either side’s response to the other’s argument. The matter thus remained unresolved, leaving bewilderment and doubt. The same applies to his subsequent exposition of the position of those who categorically affirmed interpretation. Here he discussed the disagreement over whether revelation may contain something whose meaning can be understood; there he discussed the position of those who held that this must occur and categorically affirmed interpretation. He presented each group’s argument without mentioning its response to the other group’s argument. Thus, in his assessment, the evidence on either side remained evenly balanced.

In his Quranic commentary, however, he favored the interpretive meaning, as did Abū al-Maʿālī in the latter of his two positions and Abū Hāmid in the last of his positions. He said in his commentary: “At this point, there is never any need to ascertain that this less likely meaning is the one intended, for the only way to do so is to give preference to one figurative meaning over another, and to one interpretation