sought to interpret the letters of the alphabet at the beginnings of the surahs as indicating how long this community would endure. Some in later times followed the same approach, agreeing with the Sabean astrologers. They claimed that it would endure for 693 years, this being the numerical value of those letters in the abjad system after repeated letters are excluded. This is a form of ta’wīl concerning the events of the Last Day foretold by the Quran.

It is also reported that some of the Christians who came to the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, with the delegation from Najrān interpreted “Indeed, We” and “We” as meaning that there are three gods, because the pronoun is plural. This is a ta’wīl concerning belief in Allah. Thus, the former offered a ta’wīl concerning the Last Day, while the latter offered a ta’wīl concerning Allah.

It is well known that “Indeed, We” and “We” are among the ambiguous expressions. They may refer to one individual accompanied by others of the same kind, or to one individual accompanied by his helpers, even if they are not of the same kind. They may also refer to one individual magnifying himself, who stands in the place of someone accompanied by others because of the multiplicity of his names, each name taking the place of a named entity. Such an expression is therefore ambiguous: its wording is one, but its meanings are diverse.

“Equivocal terms” are among the ambiguous expressions, as are some “univocal terms.” Quranic commentators call these “multiple senses and parallel usages,” and have compiled “Books of Multiple Senses and Parallel Usages.” Multiple senses concern equivocal terms, while parallel usages concern univocal terms. Some of our companions who have written on this subject have supposed that the multiple senses