are false. The position he attributed to the early generations is neither theirs nor that of any individual among them. It is not known to have been held by any of the Companions or Successors, as will be discussed later.

Here, however, he mentioned only the dispute over whether the Quran may contain something that cannot be known. We have explained that this may mean that it contains wording whose meaning no one can understand, so that it would be like foreign speech to the Arabs. The correct view is that this is not possible, and none of the early generations is known to have considered it possible. Many of them merely held that the pause falls at the words of Allah Most High:

“And no one knows its interpretation except Allah.” [Āl ‘Imrān 7]

But they did not intend this meaning, as we shall explain, Allah Most High willing.

It may also mean that some people cannot understand it. This does occur: not everyone can know everything that others can know, whether concerning the meanings of the Quran, hadith, jurisprudence, Arabic, medicine, arithmetic, or any other branch of human knowledge.

It may also mean that some of it has an ultimate reality to which it refers, the true nature of which is known only to Allah, Almighty and Majestic. The correct view is that this is indeed so. Nor did any of the early generations dispute this, as we shall explain when discussing the term ta’wīl.