…to the one who adduces it; to be dialectical simply means that it is conceded, and to be rhetorical means that it is widely known, accepted, or deemed probable. All these distinctions are merely relational predicates that happen to attach to a proposition; none of them is an inseparable attribute, let alone an essential property, according to their own principles. In fact, nothing in these labels pertains to the proposition in and of itself; they are purely relative, depending on whether someone is conscious of it. Plainly, a proposition may be true even when a person is unaware of it—much less when he only supposes or knows it. In the same way, a proposition may be classed as rhetorical or dialectical and yet be true in itself; indeed, it may even be demonstrative, as they themselves admit.
Since that is so, the messengers—may Allah’s blessings be upon them—have reported propositions that are intrinsically true and never false or void. They have also outlined universal epistemic paths by which the truth of those propositions can be recognized, paths from which all of humankind may benefit. This is the knowledge that truly profits people.
The philosophers, however, did not tread this path. They treated propositions in purely relative terms: whatever the individual arguer himself knows, they label demonstrative, and whatever he does not know they refuse to count as demonstrative, even if another arguer does know it. What they call dialectical is whatever the opponent grants, even if no one else grants it. Thus, what is demonstrative for one person or group ceases to be demonstrative for another. Scientific propositions therefore admit of no comprehensive and exclusive definition; their status fluctuates with those who know them and those who do not. Indeed, every craft possesses within it propositions its practitioners understand that outsiders fail to grasp.
Accordingly, their method can never serve to distinguish truth from falsehood or honesty from lies in terms of what the matter actually is, nor can its benefit be shared universally among human beings. The prophets, by contrast, conveyed truthful propositions that separate right from wrong and truth from falsehood: whatever contradicts truth is a lie, and whatever contradicts right is falsehood. For this reason Allah made the Book He revealed a judge among people concerning their disputes, and He also sent down the balance—a scale by which truth is weighed and recognized as distinct from falsehood. Every truth has its scale.