tasting food, and tasting hunger is not the same as tasting the garment of hunger. Thus, a precise understanding of this subject belongs to the science of rhetoric, through which a person appreciates something of the Quran’s greatness. No expression in the Quran occurs without something accompanying it that clarifies its intended meaning. Whoever misunderstands the Quran does so because of his own limitations or negligence.

If someone claims that the preposition bā’ in “drink of it” is redundant, that reflects his own understanding. A person may drink without having his thirst quenched. Saying “He drinks from it” does not indicate that his thirst is quenched. But when the meaning of quenching thirst is incorporated into the expression “drink of it,” it indicates drinking that quenches thirst. This is a particular kind of drinking, indicated by the preposition bā’.

Likewise, the preposition bā’ in His words,

“Wipe over your faces and hands,”

indicates bringing the substance used for wiping into contact with the bodily part; what is intended is not simply wiping the face. Whoever says that the bā’ is redundant makes the meaning “Wipe your faces.” Yet simply wiping the face does not entail applying the water or earth used for wiping.

As for the reading “and your feet” with the accusative ending, it refers back to the face and hands, as shown by His words, “up to the ankles.” If it were coordinated according to the underlying syntactic position, the meaning would be spoiled: it would amount to saying, “Wipe your heads.”

Moreover, all the reciters read His words concerning dry ablution:

“Wipe over your faces and hands with it.”

The wording of the two verses follows the same pattern. If the expression coordinated with a noun in the genitive were coordinated according to its underlying syntactic position, they would have read “your hands” in the accusative. Since they do not read it that way, it becomes clear that His words: