Читать книгу Towards Understanding the Qur'an - Sayyid Abul A'la Mawdudi - Страница 146

Al [Imran 3: 7

(7) He it is Who has revealed the Book to you. Among them there are absolutely clear and lucid verses,1 and these are the core of the Book. Others are ambiguous.2 Those in whose hearts there is perversity, go about the part that is ambigu- ous, seeking mischief and seeking to arrive at its meaning arbitrarily, although none knows their true meaning but Allah. But those firmly rooted in knowledge say: ▶

1 The muhkam verses mentioned here are those Qur’anic verses which are embodied in clear and lucid language and whose meaning is not liable to any ambiguity and equivocation. Such verses form the core of the Book; they are the verses which fulfil the true purpose for which the Qur’an was revealed, and they invite the whole world to Islam. They embody admonition and instruction, refutation of erroneous doctrines as well as elucidation of the Right Way. They also contain the fundamentals of the true faith, embodying teachings relating to belief, worship and morality, and mandatory duties and prohibitions.

2 “Ambiguous” (mutashabih) verses are those whose meaning may have some degree of equivocation. It is obvious that no way of life can be prescribed for man unless a certain amount of knowledge explaining the truth about the universe, its origin and end, about man’s position in it and other matters of similar importance, is intimated to him. It is also evident that the truths which lie beyond the range of human perception have always eluded and will continue to elude man; no words exist in the human vocabulary which either express or portray them. In speaking about such things, we necessarily resort to words and expressions that are generally employed in connection with tangible objects. In the Qur’an, too, this kind of language is employed in relation to supernatural matters; the verses which have been characterized as “ambiguous” refer to such matters.

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