[Pooya/Ali Commentary 56:77] All shades of meanings associated with the word "karim" are applicable. The Quran gives out, imparts, makes available openhandedly knowledge, justice, mercy, awareness of laws made by Allah, relationship between man and God, and interrelation among all that has been created, in all directions, covering every aspect and dimension. The maknun (hidden, precious, well-guarded) Quran in the lawh mahfuz is beyond the reach of earthly understanding, based upon empirical conclusions. Only the thoroughly purified, mentioned in Azhab: 33, come in contact or achieve real contact with its true meaning (refer to Ali Imran: 7), sense, grasp and handle (various meanings of the word mass) the real purport of the word of Allah. Refer to the commentary of Ahzab :33. The Quran is amidst the people, sent by the beneficent Lord, to give guidance to whosever seeks it as promised in verse 69 of Ankabut, but in the light of hadith al thaqalayn (on page 6) the Holy Prophet made it clearly known that unless the seeker of guidance comes to his Ahl ul Bayt, he will not find it. Verse 78 says that the Quran is treasured and preserved in a well guarded book (maknun) implying that it is the recitation which is in our hands, not the actual book. In support verses 3 and 4 of Zukhruf say: "Verily, We have made it an Arabic Quran that you may haply understand. Verily it is in the mother (of the) book with Us, the most exalted, full of wisdom." According to Shu-ara: 192 to 194 it was sent down to the heart of the Holy Prophet through the trusted spirit. It was taught to the Holy Prophet by Allah as per Najam: 5. Ankabut: 49 says that the Quran, a collection of clear or manifest signs or verses, is treasured in the hearts of those who are endowed with divine wisdom-the Holy Prophet and his thoroughly purified Ahl ul Bayt. Therefore the well-guarded book preserved in the lawh mahfuz (also described in Anam: 59) was known to the Holy Prophet, and from the heart of the Holy Prophet this heavenly treasure was transferred to the twelve Imams of the Ahl ul Bayt, the thoroughly purified. Aqa Mahdi Puya says: (i) According to Buruj: 21 and 22 the Quran has a pre-revealed existence in the lawh mahfuz (the preserved tablet). (ii) This existence is not material or physical, knowable to human senses. (iii) The nature of this existence is spiritual and intellectual, so the word mass cannot refer to the sense of touch. It implies intellectual grasp because the inseparable pronoun in objective case (yamassuhu) either refers to the maknun book or the Quran which is hidden in the maknun book. (iv) The clause la yamassuhu should be taken as purely of indicative and not of imperative significance. (v) If there is a tradition which prohibits impure persons to touch the revealed version of the Quran, it should be taken as an imperative based on the indicative preposition as has been pointed out in the commentary of Saffat: 102-Ibrahim told Ismail his dream in an indicative form but Ismail treated the indicative as imperative. (vi) The phrase al mutahharun (the purified) does not refer to those who purify themselves by a material purifying agent or by embracing Islam. In Abasa: 13 to 16 and Bayyinah: 2 and 3 this phrase has been used for purifying the book by Allah Himself. In Baqarah: 25 it is used to describe the wives purified by Allah. (vii) The physical touch is partial because the surface of one thing touches the surface of another thing. In the case of intellectual touch the knower grasps the known in such a way that the known, the knowing and the knower become identifiable with each other. It is a total touch. (viii) As the term touch requires, the toucher and the touched should be of the same class, otherwise the touch or grasp would be not possible. (ix) Taking into consideration all these arguments, many commentators have said that the word mutahharun refers to the angels, accepting the principle that touching of the Quran in its original state of "well guarded tablet" is possible only if the toucher has been purified. Now if the application of the term is confined to the angels, the superior status given to man by Allah-He has appointed him as His vicegerent and commanded the angels to prostrate before him (see commentary of Baqarah: 30 to 39)-will be brought low which amounts to rebellion against Allah; particularly when Allah has thoroughly purified a group of human beings, the Ahl ul Bayt of the Holy Prophet, by His will and command in verse 33 of Ahzab. These verses are inseparably linked with Ahzab: 33. On the basis of all these verses the Holy Prophet joined the Quran and his Ahl ul Bayt together (see hadith al thaqalayn on page 6) so that guidance, mercy and knowledge be available to mankind in all ages. The Quran and sunnah, in unequivocal terms, have asserted the infallibility of the Ahl ul Bayt as well as the book of Allah.