people have understood the intended meanings of all who have spoken on the various disciplines, and have attained certainty about what they meant in most of what they said? Matters of conjecture and doubt are few and insignificant compared with what is known with certainty. Jurists understand what their imams intended in the books they authored; the same applies to grammarians, physicians, and authors of works on hadith, Quranic commentary, and other disciplines. If these authors have made their intended meanings clear, although they were under no obligation to do so, how could the Messenger, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, fail to make his intended meaning clear, when Allah Most High obliged him to convey the message clearly?

The invalidity of this principle has been discussed at length. Rationally, it is among the gravest forms of sophistry; from the perspective of revealed religion, it is among the gravest forms of deviation concerning the speech of Allah Most High. Its proponent denies the blessing of Allah, mighty and majestic is He, in teaching clear expression and the Quran—Allah Most High says:

“The Most Merciful (1)
taught the Quran, (2)
created man, (3)
and taught him clear expression. (4)”
[al-Rahmān 1–4]

—in