and in interpretation, one must not go beyond what has been transmitted orally.

His words, peace and blessings be upon him, “Every limit has a point of ascent,” mean a height to which one ascends through knowledge of it. It is also said that this point of ascent means understanding. Allah may open to someone who reflects and ponders insights into interpretation and meanings that He does not open to others. “Above every possessor of knowledge is one more knowing.”

These scholars thus distinguished between exegesis (tafsīr) and interpretation (ta’wīl): exegesis is known through transmission and oral instruction, whereas interpretation is what one understands from a verse by drawing inferences from it, provided that this meaning accords with what precedes and follows it and does not contradict the Quran or the Sunnah. Whatever meets these conditions must be treated like its apparent meaning. This is a fourth view concerning the meaning of interpretation.

Regarding Allah Most High’s words,

“But no one knows its interpretation except Allah” [Āl ‘Imrān 7],

they said—the wording is al-Baghawī’s:

“Seeking its interpretation” means seeking its explanation and knowledge of it. The evidence is His saying:

“I will inform you of the interpretation of that over which you could not remain patient.” (78) [al-Kahf 78]

It has also been said that it means seeking its outcome and seeking to ascertain the appointed term of this