Likewise, if someone explains “revelation” as “communication,” or “We revealed to you” as “We sent down to you,” or “We conveyed Our decree to the Children of Israel” as “We informed them,” and so forth, all these are approximations, not precise explanations. Revelation is swift, hidden communication, while conveying a decree to them is more specific than merely informing them, for it involves sending down to them and revealing to them.

The Arabs incorporate the meaning of one verb into another and give it the same prepositional construction. Hence the error of those who regard some prepositions as interchangeable, as when they explain His words:

“He has certainly wronged you by demanding your ewe in addition to his ewes,”

as meaning “along with his ewes”; and:

“Who will be my helpers unto Allah?”

as meaning “with Allah,” and similar examples. The precise explanation is what the grammarians of Basra described as incorporating an additional meaning: demanding the ewe includes the meaning of gathering it together with his ewes and adding it to them. Likewise, in His words:

“They almost tempted you away from what We revealed to you,”

the verb incorporates the meanings of making you deviate and turning you away. Similarly, in His words:

“We helped him against the people who denied Our signs,”

the verb incorporates the meanings of saving and delivering him. Likewise, in His words:

“From which the servants of Allah drink,”

the verb incorporates the meaning of having their thirst quenched by it. There are many similar examples.

Anyone who explains lā rayba as lā shakka (“there is no doubt”) is only approximating the meaning. Rayb carries a sense of agitation and movement, as in his saying:

“Leave what makes you uneasy for what does not make you uneasy.”

And the hadith relates:

“He passed by a gazelle curled up asleep and said, ‘Let no one disturb it.’”

Just as certainty carries a sense of stillness and reassurance, its opposite, rayb, carries a sense of agitation and movement. Even if shakk is said to entail this meaning, the word itself does not express it.