114- Sulaymān ibn ʿAbd al-Jabbār narrated to me, he said: ʿAlī ibn Ḥakīm al-Awdī narrated to us, he said: ʿAbd Allāh ibn Bukayr narrated to us, from Ṣāliḥ ibn Muslim, he said: al-Shaʿbī passed by al-Suddī while he was interpreting [the Qurʾān], so he said: "For a drum to be beaten on your backside would be better for you than this gathering of yours!" (1)

115- Sulaymān ibn ʿAbd al-Jabbār narrated to me, he said: ʿAlī ibn Ḥakīm narrated to me, he said: Sharīk narrated to us, from Muslim ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān al-Nakhaʿī, he said: I was with Ibrāhīm when he saw al-Suddī, so he said: "Indeed, he interprets according to the exegesis of those people."

116- Ibn al-Barqī narrated to us, he said: ʿAmr ibn Abī Salama narrated to us, he said: I heard Saʿīd ibn Bashīr say, from Qatāda, he said: "I do not see anyone who runs neck and neck with al-Kalbī in exegesis."

Abū Jaʿfar said: We have already stated in what has preceded of this book of ours regarding the aspects of the interpretation of the Qurʾān, and that the interpretation of the entire Qurʾān is of three aspects:

One of them: there is no way to reach it, and it is that which Allāh has reserved knowledge of for Himself and concealed its knowledge from all His creation; namely, the times of the appointed terms of future events that Allāh informed in His Book would take place, such as: the time of the occurrence of the Hour, the time of the descent of ʿĪsā ibn Maryam, the time of the sun rising from its place of setting, the blowing into the Trumpet, and whatever is similar to that.

And the second aspect: that which Allāh has exclusive knowledge of its interpretation for His Prophet, Peace and blessings of God be upon him, to the exclusion of the rest of his nation; namely, that wherein His servants are in need of