from their rightful contexts to fit whatever he has already concluded to be true. In doing so he is following what is ambiguous, for names resemble other names and the realities they denote resemble other realities, yet they differ from them far more than they resemble them. Such people cling to that ambiguity “seeking dissension” (3:7) by casting up doubts about the possibility that these realities could exist in Paradise, and “seeking its interpretation” so as to reduce it to the familiar things they know in this world.

Allah the Exalted says, “None knows its interpretation except Allah.” Concerning these very realities He also says, “No soul knows what comfort is kept hidden for them as a reward for what they used to do” (32:17)—neither an angel brought near nor a messenger-prophet knows it.

As for His words, “and none knows its interpretation,” the pronoun may refer either to the Book as a whole or to its ambiguous passages. If it refers to the Book, as in His words “so those in whose hearts is deviance follow what is ambiguous of it, seeking dissension and seeking its interpretation” (3:7), the meaning is sound; for every verse of the Book, whether definitive or ambiguous, that informs us of the unseen which we are commanded to believe—none knows the true nature of that unseen, nor when it will take place, except Allah alone.

One may cite as evidence that Allah has ascribed interpretation to the entire Book even while declaring it detailed, in His words: “We have certainly brought them a Book which We have elaborated with knowledge, as guidance and mercy for a people who believe” (7:52) and “Are they waiting for anything but its interpretation? The Day its interpretation comes…” (7:53). Thus He made the future interpretation apply to the fully detailed Book.

We have already explained that no one knows that interpretation—its timing, measure, kind, or reality—except Allah; we only know some of its attributes to the extent of our limited understanding, for nothing in our world matches it. The same point is made in His statement: “Rather, they have denied that which they cannot encompass with their knowledge, and its interpretation has not yet reached them” (10:39).