Yet a great deal of translation does not convey the exact meaning carried in the original language; it delivers only what approximates it. This is because the concepts in question often have no precise equivalents in the other tongue—especially when the source is Arabic, whose rendering is, for the most part, a matter of approximation.

Under this heading fall the works that explain the rare and unfamiliar words of the Qur’an and the Prophetic ḥadīth, as well as Qur’anic exegesis and the explanation of every other form of discourse. This is the first rung of the discipline, for its purpose is to set forth what the speaker intended by those particular terms or statements.

Although scholars agree that such a definition counts as a merely “verbal” one, it is precisely the type required for teaching the established sciences, indeed for reading any book and for every kind of communication that employs those words. Anyone who studies works on grammar, medicine, or any other subject must understand what their authors meant by their terminology and by their composed discourse; the same holds for those who read books on jurisprudence, theology, philosophy, and the like.

Knowing the Shar‘ī definitions is part of the religion:
The knowledge of these definitions—of every word found in the Book of Allah and the Sunnah of His Messenger (Allah bless him and grant him peace)—belongs to the religion itself. In some cases it is an individual obligation, in others a collective one. Hence Allah reproached those who remain ignorant of such limits, saying:

“The Bedouins are the worst in disbelief and hypocrisy, and more liable to be unaware of the limits of what Allah has sent down to His Messenger” (Q 9:97).

What Allah revealed to His Messenger contains terms that may be unfamiliar to the listener, such as ḍīzā, qaswarah, ‘as‘asa, and the like. Other words are well known, yet people know only their general sense and not their precise definition.