with mentioning the remainder of the twenty-eight letters of the alphabet, under the interpretation that these letters are "that Book" combined, "there is no doubt in it"—for that is an erroneous and invalid statement, because it departs from the views of all the Companions, the Successors, and those after them among the later generations of the scholars of exegesis and interpretation (1). For the testimony of the decisive proof against it as an error is sufficient evidence of its error, along with the advocate of that view having invalidated his own statement that we reported from him—when he came to clarifying the nominative case of "that Book"—by saying once that each of the two is in the nominative case by virtue of the other, another time that it is in the nominative case due to the pronoun returning to its mention in His saying "there is no doubt in it", and another time by his saying "[it is] a guidance for the God-fearing". And that is an abandonment on his part of his statement that "Alif Lam Mim" places "that Book" in the nominative case, and a departure from the claim he asserted regarding the interpretation of "Alif Lam Mim. That is the Book", and that the interpretation of that is: these letters are that Book.

If someone were to say to us: How can a single letter comprehensively indicate many different meanings?

It is said: Just as it is permissible for a single word to encompass many different meanings, such as their calling a group of people an umma, a period of time an umma, a devoutly obedient man to Allah an umma, and a religion and creed an umma; and as in their calling recompense and retribution dīn, authority and obedience dīn, submissiveness dīn, and reckoning dīn, among many similar examples whose enumeration would lengthen the book—of speech that consists of a single word while encompassing many meanings. Likewise is the statement of Allah, Glorified be His praise: {Alif Lam Mim}, {Alif Lam Ra}, {Alif Lam Mim Sad}, and similar letters of the alphabet that serve as the openings of sūras; every letter among them indicates various meanings, comprehensively including all the names and attributes of Allah, Mighty and Majestic, that the exegetes stated in the views we mentioned from them. And they are, along with that, the openings of the sūras, just as those who said so have stated.