al-Anbārī, discuss all the ambiguous passages of the Quran and explain their meanings. There is no verse in the Quran whose interpretation and meaning they say no one knows. Thus, in their view, the interpretation known exclusively to Allah must be something other than the explanations they have given of the ambiguous verses.

Concerning the words of the Most High,

“And no one knows its interpretation except Allah” [Āl ʿImrān 7],

it may be said that what is denied is the universality of the negation, not the negation of universality. That is, none but Allah knows the entirety of its interpretation, whereas those firmly grounded in knowledge know some of it. As Ibn ʿAbbās said, “An interpretation known to the scholars, and an interpretation known only to Allah; whoever claims to know it is a liar.”

The majority’s position, then, accords with the correct reading: none other than Allah knows the entirety of the interpretation. This is like the words of the Most High,

“And none knows the hosts of your Lord except Him” [al-Muddaththir 31].

That is, all of them; otherwise, many people know some of our Lord’s hosts.