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124chapter threethereof that is allegorical, seeking discord, and searching for its hiddenmeanings, but no one knows its hidden meanings except God. Andthose who are firmly grounded in knowledge [ al-r§sikhån fi’l-#ilm] say:“We believe in the book; the whole of it is from our Lord”—and nonewill grasp the message except men of understanding [ålå ’l-alb§b]. ($l#Imr§n 3:7)I) The Definite Book ( al-kit§b al-muÈkam):The definite book contains all ‘definite verses’ (§y§t muÈkam§t) ofAllah’s revelation to which the term ‘mother of the book’ (ummal-kit§b) has been given to designate the origin or source of thisbook. The ‘definite verses’ address the rules and principles ofhuman behaviour within the spheres of ritual worship, economics,the community, politics, and social and personal ethics. Theyembody MuÈammad’s messengerhood ( al-ris§la).II) The Ambiguous Book ( al-kit§b al-mutash§bih):The ambiguous book contains all ‘ambiguous verses’ (§y§tmutash§bih§t) of Allah’s revelation, pertaining to the universal lawsgiven by Allah to His Prophet MuÈammad (ß). Universal lawsexplain processes of nature in the unseen world, those parts of theuniverse that had not yet been discovered by the human mindwhen Allah’s revelation occurred. In embodying the signs of theobjective reality, ‘ambiguous verses’ separate truth from falsehood—theyrepresent MuÈammad’s (ß) prophethood ( al-nubåwa).Unlike the ‘definite verses’, they do not contain rules of humanbehaviour and hence are purely descriptive. They contain ‘news’about the universe, and not prohibitions or permissions.The ambiguous book is divided into two parts: a) the seven oftrepeated(verses) and b) the grand qur"§n—as we hear in the followingverse:And We have bestowed upon you the seven oft-repeated (verses) [sab# anmin al-math§nÊ] and the grand qur"§n [ al-qur"§n al-#azÊm]. ( Al-\ijr15:87)means that MS does not use 3:7 as a reference to the ‘ambiguous verses’ (he uses39:23) but to the verses of tafßÊl al-kit§b.