Principle Seventy-One: On the fact that many Qur’anic expressions encompass comprehensive meanings

Know that everything discussed in the preceding principles is the very purpose for which this book was written: to clarify the paths, methods, and foundational rules to which a large number of verses return. Although their wording varies and their styles and details differ, they all trace back to one root and an overarching maxim.

As for the very words of the Wise Qur’an, many of them are concise expressions that gather within them wide-ranging meanings. This stands among the greatest proofs that it is a revelation from the All-Wise, the Praiseworthy, and that the one who was granted concise speech—so that lengthy discourse was compressed for him—is indeed truthful.

Let us cite some examples:

• “Whoever does righteousness, it is for his own benefit; and whoever does evil, it is to his own detriment.” ⦗Fussilat: 46⦘

• “For those who excel in goodness there is the best reward and even more.” ⦗Yunus: 26⦘

• “Is the reward for excellence anything but excellence?” ⦗Al-Rahman: 60⦘

• “The foremost—the foremost.” ⦗Al-Waqiʿah: 10⦘

• “Indeed, Allah commands justice and excellence…” ⦗Al-Nahl: 90⦘

• “Cooperate in righteousness and piety, and do not cooperate in sin and aggression.” ⦗Al-Maʾidah: 2⦘

• “Whoever does righteous deeds, whether male or female, while believing, We will surely grant them a good life, and We will surely reward them according to the best of what they used to do.” ⦗Al-Nahl: 97⦘

• “So whoever does an atom’s weight of good will see it, and whoever does an atom’s weight of evil will see it.” ⦗Al-Zalzalah: 7-8⦘