all the early generations. Another example is His saying:

“I will tell you the interpretation of that which you could not bear patiently.”

Then, after explaining these matters to him, he said:

“That is the interpretation of that which you could not bear patiently.”

This is the interpretation of his actions, not of his words. What is meant is the eventual outcome of these actions—the benefits they would ultimately bring to the people of the ship, the boy’s parents, and those to whom the wall belonged.

As for the explanation offered by some, “Your referring matters to Allah and the Messenger is better than your own interpretation,” al-Zajjāj reported this from certain people. This resembles the explanation previously mentioned concerning the word ta’wīl in that verse: it interprets the word according to a later convention, not according to the language of the Quran. For the early Quranic commentators, however, ta’wīl and tafsīr both meant explanation. Thus Ibn Jarīr says, “Discussion of the ta’wīl of this verse,” meaning its explanation.

Since this was what Mujāhid, a leading authority in Quranic commentary, understood by ta’wīl, he placed the pause after His words:

“and those firmly grounded in knowledge.”

For those firmly grounded in knowledge know its explanation. This view was adopted by Ibn Qutaybah and others among Ahl al-Sunnah. Ibn Qutaybah inclined toward the approach of Ahmad and Ishāq, and discussed this at length in his book al-Mushkil and elsewhere.

Later Quranic commentators, however, such as al-Tha‘labī, distinguish between tafsīr and ta’wīl. He said:

“Tafsīr means shedding light and disclosing whatever is obscure in the meaning intended by the wording