Alif. Lam. Mim. Allah! He is the Ever-living, the Sustainer of the Universe. In reality there is no god but He.1 He has sent down to you the Book, which has brought the Truth and confirms the Scriptures which preceded it. Before this, He sent down the Torah and the Gospel for the guidance of mankind,2 and He has sent down the Criterion (of right and wrong). Now there shall be a severe punishment for those who reject the Commandments of Allah: for Allah is Almighty, Avenger of wickedness. Nothing in the Earth or in the heavens is hidden from Allah.3 It is He Who shapes you in the wombs of your mothers as He wills.4 There is no deity but He, the Al-Mighty, the All-Wise. It is He Who has sent down this Book to you. There are two kinds of verses in this Book: muhkamat (which are precise in meaning: ) they are the essence of the Books5 and the other kind is mutashabihat (which are ambiguous. ) Those, who are perverse of heart, always go after the mutashabihat in pursuit of mischief and try to interpret them arbitrarily, whereas in fact, none save Allah knows their real meanings!6 In contrast to them, those, who possess sound knowledge, say, "We believe in them because all of them are from our Lord."7 And the fact is that only the people of insight can learn lessons from such things. They pray to Allah, "Our Lord, let not our hearts become perverse after 'Thou hast once guided us aright, bestow upon us mercy from Thyself for Thou art the real Benefactor! Lord! Thou wilt surely gather all mankind together on a Day which is inevitable, for Thou never failest to fulfil Thy promise."