Furthermore, Allah Most High has told us of the bliss and punishment He has promised us in the Hereafter, and of its food, drink, spouses, furnishings, and other things. Were we not familiar with things resembling these in this world, we would not understand what He has promised us. Yet we know that those realities are not like these. Indeed, Ibn ʿAbbās, may Allah be pleased with him, said: “Nothing of what is in Paradise is found in this world except the names.” According to one view, this explains His words:
“And it is given to them in likeness.”
Thus, the things that exist in this world and those that exist in the Hereafter resemble one another, correspond, and share certain features. Through this, we understand what is meant and come to love and desire it, or to hate it and recoil from it. Yet between them lie differences and disparities in excellence whose extent cannot be measured in this world. This belongs to the ta’wīl—the ultimate reality—that we do not know, but Allah Most High knows.
Hence, the statement, “None but Allah knows the ta’wīl of the ambiguous passages,” is true, as is the statement, “Those firmly grounded in knowledge know their ta’wīl.” Both statements have been transmitted from the early generations: the Companions and those who followed them in righteousness.
Those who said that they know their ta’wīl meant that they know their explanation and meaning. Otherwise, could a Muslim permissibly say that the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, did not know the meaning of the verses and hadiths he uttered and conveyed, but instead spoke words whose meanings he did not know? Those who said that they do not know their ta’wīl meant the actual manner of being, knowledge of which is the exclusive prerogative of