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To complete this discussion, we must address what he mentioned concerning figurative language in the Quran. He said: “An explanation must be offered for His words,

‘Beneath which rivers flow,’

although rivers themselves do not flow.”

The answer is that “river,” like “town,” “waterspout,” and similar terms, may refer either to what occupies a place or to the place itself. Thus, when one says, “He dug the river,” the place is meant; when one says, “The river flowed,” what occupies it is meant.

As for His words,

“And my head has blazed with grey hair,”

the claim that the head does not blaze as fire blazes is conceded. But the answer is that the word “blazing” is not used here in that sense. Rather, it is used for the whiteness that emerged and spread from the blackness, as a flame spreads from fire. This is a comparison and a metaphor. Yet in His words,

“And my head has blazed,”

the word “blazed” is qualified by its reference to the head, so the wording does not admit the meaning of firewood burning. This expression—namely, His words,

“And my head has blazed with grey hair”—

has never been used outside its proper setting; indeed, it has only ever been used with this meaning. Even if this usage brings a change after the establishment of “the fire blazed,” that poses no difficulty. Nor does it pose any difficulty if the intention is to liken that meaning to this one. Rather, this is the nature of general terms: it is necessary that