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conclusion 485ground. And one does not need revelation to learn that anelephant’s tail is short and that its trunk is long. Let us look atanother example which we have not yet discussed. We read inverse 196 of Sårat al-Baqara that ‘if he [the pilgrim] lacks themeans, he should fast for three days during the pilgrimage, andseven days on his return, making ten days in all…’ [AH]. Weshould not assume, as many exegetes did, that Allah wants toteach us here such trivial sums as three plus seven equals ten.Everyone, whether clever or stupid, would know that; no revelationis needed for such triviality. If we took away the endingphrase ‘in all’ (k§milat un ) it would not change its message thatthree plus seven equals ten. But we are not allowed, as weexplained, to take anything away from the text without changingits semantic meaning. The Book is purposefully composed;not a single syllable in it is redundant or insignificant. Hence,we cannot accept that the phrase ‘in all’ (k§milat un ) does notchange the meaning of the verse; thus, we need to find a differentinterpretation for it. We believe that the text here alludesto the existence of several different numeric systems. There is,for example, the decimal system, the seven-number system, thetwelve-number system, and the sixteen-number system. In atwelve-number system, the number ten would have an inferiorvalue—expressed as 10/12—compared to a ten in a decimalsystem, expressed as 10/10 or as one whole (k§milat un ). We concludethat this verse contains not only the number of days tobe fasted but also the identity of the number system (the decimalsystem) to be used for the calculation of the actual numberof the fasting days.5. The Book constitutes ‘being’ ( al-kaynåna) in-and-for-itself, derivedfrom Allah. As we have shown in chapter 2 it points to its selfsufficientexistence, that is, ‘being’ without change or interferencefrom external factors. This ontological quality is expressedin the eternal stability of the text, not in terms of its meaningbut in terms of its linguistic, visual, and acoustic form. Its formwill never change and is therefore not subject to ‘becoming’( al-ßairåra) and ‘progressing’ ( al-sairåra). No one, not even aprophet or a messenger, is able to grasp the total meaning ofthe Book because this would imply partnership with Allah in Hisself-sufficient ‘being’. Instead, we become gradually acquainted