The Light of Truth — Page 494
494 THE LIGHT OF TRUTH-PART TWO وَإِنَّ الظَّنَّ لَا يُغْنِي مِنَ الْحَقِّ شَيْئًا ! A statement that is firmly established through objective means and not subjective, resembles the muḥkamāt of the Furqan, whereas a matter that is established only by subjective means resembles the mutashābi- hat of the Quran. Those in whose hearts is a disease follow the mutashabihāt and abandon the muḥkamāt and bayyināt. And he whose statements do not reach the level of complete certainty, replete with light, merely resembles those who remain awake late at night, engaging in vain conversation. It is a matter of virtue that we consider the mutashabi- hāt subservient to the bayyināt. Hence, when we see that one of the [prophesied] events has clearly taken place and the light of its truth has become manifest, it is incumbent upon us to interpret all those nar- rations that oppose it [in a complementary manner] and to consider them subservient to it with pure intentions. Those who failed to follow this principle remained in error until their ignorance annihilated them. The wise one, given to reflection, ponders carefully the manner in which reports are authenticated when there is a multiplicity of narra- tions. When they see that an incident of the reports and prophecies concerning the future has in fact taken place and its truth has become manifest, like those matters that are self-evident and tangible, they give no regard to [contradictory] traditions that have not been estab- lished to the same degree, even if their narrators were all trustworthy and among the accepted narrators. Rather, they turn away from each and every thing that opposes the ways of the firmly established matters and consider it to be like worthless wares, and they do not exchange manifest, firm, and clear matters for weak possibilities. They know that 'hearsay is not like seeing' and this is the principle that protects from error and disgrace. 1. And conjecture avails naught against truth (Sūrah an-Najm, 53:29). [Publisher]