“He is the One who has sent down to you the Book. Some of its verses are clear; they are the foundation of the Book, while others are ambiguous. As for those in whose hearts is deviation, they pursue what is ambiguous therein, seeking discord and seeking its interpretation. Yet none knows its interpretation except Allah. Those firmly grounded in knowledge say, ‘We believe in it; all of it is from our Lord.’ But none take heed except people of understanding.” (7)

The words of the Most High, “Some of its verses are clear,” mean lucid and detailed verses. They are called clear because of their precision, as though He has made them firm and prevented people from tampering with them, owing to their manifest nature and the clarity of their meaning. “They are the foundation of the Book,” meaning its basis, upon which rulings are founded. He said, “They are the foundation of the Book,” rather than “the foundations of the Book,” because all the verses, in their completeness and togetherness, are like a single verse, and the Speech of Allah is one. It has also been said that the meaning is that each one of these verses is a foundation of the Book, just as He said, “And We made the son of Mary and his mother a sign” (al-Mu’minun 23:50)—that is, each of them was a sign.

The word rendered “others” is the plural of “another,” and is not fully declinable because it is an altered form of “other,” like Umar and Zufar. “Ambiguous.” If it is asked: How did He distinguish here between the clear and the ambiguous, when elsewhere He has described the entire Quran as clear? For He said, “Alif Lam Ra. A Book whose verses have been perfected” (Hud 11:1). And He described all of it as ambiguous in another passage (1), saying, “Allah has sent down the finest discourse: a Book, consistent in its parts” (al-Zumar 39:23).

It is said: where He describes all of it as clear, He means that all of it is true, containing neither futility nor jest. Where He describes all of it as ambiguous, He means that one part resembles another in truth, truthfulness, and beauty. Here, however, He has made some of it clear and some of it ambiguous.

The scholars differed regarding these two categories. Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him, said: “The clear verses are the three verses in Surat al-An’am: ‘Say, “Come, I will recite to you what your Lord has forbidden to you”’ (6:151), and their counterpart in Surat al-Isra: ‘And your Lord has decreed that you worship none but Him’ (17:23), and the verses that follow.” It is also narrated from him that he said: “The ambiguous verses are the letters of the alphabet found at the beginnings of the suras.”

Mujahid and Ikrimah said: “The clear verses are those concerning what is lawful and forbidden. Whatever is other than that is ambiguous: one part resembles another in truth, and one part confirms another,” such as His words: “He thereby misguides none but the defiantly disobedient” (al-Baqarah 2:26), and, “He lays defilement upon those who do not understand” (Yunus 10:100).

Qatadah, al-Dahhak, and al-Suddi said: “The clear verse is the abrogating verse, which is acted upon; and the ambiguous verse is the abrogated verse, which is believed in but not acted upon.” Ali ibn Abi Talhah narrated from Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him, that he said: “The clear verses of the Quran are its abrogating passages, its lawful and forbidden matters, its fixed legal penalties, its obligatory duties, and that which is to be believed in and acted upon. Its ambiguous verses are its abrogated passages, its passages involving inversion of order, its parables, its oaths, and that which is to be believed in but not acted upon.”

It has also been said: the clear verses are those whose meaning Allah has made known to His creation, while the ambiguous are those whose knowledge Allah Most High has kept exclusively for Himself, with no way for anyone to know them—such as reports concerning the signs of the Hour: the emergence of the Dajjal, the descent of Jesus, peace be upon him, the rising of the sun from its setting-place, the coming of the Hour, and the passing away of this world.

Muhammad ibn Ja‘far ibn al-Zubayr said: “The clear verse is that which admits of only one interpretation, whereas the ambiguous verse admits of several possible meanings.”