It is also meaningless to restrain him from what is beyond his powers...

It is also meaningless to restrain him from what is beyond his powers, except if one claims that he possessed full knowledge of the Qur’an which is in the fourth heaven; then, by assuming this, his argument and position collapses, because he has maintained that the Qur’an is originally in the (fourth) heaven; and since what is in the breast of the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and his progeny, and in its preservation on the earth, then it is absurd that it should be confined to the heavens.

Moreover, if what is in the preservation (i.e., memory) of the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and his progeny, is described as being in the fourth heaven, then what is in the preservation of others should be described the same way; then it cannot be ascribed to the fourth heaven, nor, still less, to the first, in preference to the fourth. Thus, he who considers what we have said would realize that the interpretation of the verse by him who relied on the tradition is far from the truth.

[^1]: Zihar: Putting away the wife by saying: "Thou art to me as the back of my mother:" This concerned Khawlah bint Malik ibn Tha‘labah, who was divorced by her husband. Aws ibn Samit, with this form of words, currentamong the Arabs of the jahiliyyah but forbidden in Islam by this verse, The penance for it is the freeing of a slave, the feeding of sixty poor or two months successive fast.

For a detailed discussion, see Ibnu '1-‘Arabi, Ahkamu 'l-Qur’an, vol.4, p.1734; al-Qasimi, Mahasinu 't-ta’wi1, vol.16, p.5706. Previous…