and knowledge greater than the certainty and knowledge of his exact wording. Thus, both those who saw him and those who were absent attained greater knowledge of his meaning than of his wording. Someone who saw him might not have heard his speech, yet knew what he intended, commanded, and prohibited without hearing the actual words, whether because he was too far away or because he was absent. He asks only about what the Messenger intended, having no interest in the wording itself. He therefore knows the intended meaning with necessary certainty, while not knowing the wording.

Third, knowing the meaning intended by a speaker matters more to his listeners than knowing his wording. That is therefore what they inquire about, and what they transmit and convey from him. For Allah Most High has recounted many sayings concerning earlier peoples—the prophets, their followers, and the rejection of those prophets. He did not transmit any individual’s exact wording, but conveyed the meaning of his speech in Arabic and in the Quran’s form of expression, which differs from all other forms of speech, although those people spoke in languages other than Arabic and in a form other than that of the Quran.