is equivalent to one-third of the Quran,’ I do not think you understand why this is so. Sometimes you say, ‘He said this to encourage recitation, without intending an exact equivalence.’ Yet the office of prophethood is far above such a thing.

“At other times you say, ‘This defies understanding and interpretation. The Quran contains more than six thousand verses; how can so short a passage constitute a third of them?’ This stems from your limited knowledge of the truths of the Quran and your attention to its outward wording. You imagine that its meanings grow greater and more numerous as its wording grows longer, and diminish as it grows shorter. This is like preferring many silver coins to a single jewel merely because they are numerous.

“Know, then, that Surah al-Ikhlās is certainly equivalent to one-third of the Quran. This relates to the three categories we mentioned concerning the Quran’s essential subjects: knowledge of Allah, knowledge of the Hereafter, and knowledge of the straight path. These three kinds of knowledge are what matters most; the rest is subsidiary. Surah al-Ikhlās encompasses one of these three: knowledge of Allah, declaring Him free of imperfection, and affirming His oneness, with none sharing with Him in genus or species. This is what is meant by denying that He has any parent, offspring, or equal. Describing Him as al-Samad (the Self-Sufficient Master) indicates that He is the Master, the only one in existence to whom one turns for one’s needs. It does not, however, discuss the Hereafter or the straight path. That is why it is equivalent to one-third of the Quran—that is, one-third of the Quran’s fundamental subjects. This is like his statement:

“‘Hajj is Arafah.’

“That is, it is the essential part, while the rest is subsidiary.”

I say: The verses of the Quran are of two kinds: those concerned with knowledge and those concerned with practice. Some verses combine both. Abū Hāmid collected the verses concerned with knowledge relating to Allah’s essence, attributes, and actions, excluding those relating to