A Study of the Nature and Characteristics of “Mature Wisdom” in Verse Five of al-Qamar from the View of Sunni and Shiite Exegeses

Mature wisdom or ḥikmatun bālighah, is one of the Quranic combinations which has given rise to various views regarding its meaning, referents, and especially, its characteristics. The present paper studies the nature and extracts the characteristics of “mature wisdom” in verse five of the al-Qamar Chapter utilizing a descriptive-analytic method (using the help of a content analysis table) and through the view of Shiite and Sunni exegesis (more than fifty Shiite and Sunni exegeses from different centuries). Findings show that most Shiite and Sunni exegeses consider “mature wisdom” to refer to the Quran. However, instances such as the following are also within the referential circle of “mature wisdom”: divine revelation, teachings and miracles of the prophets, and the course of the sending of the prophets by God. Mature wisdom possesses certain characteristics including the following: it is at the peak of the truth, steadfastness, rightness, completeness, and perfection, contains no defects, etc. In the characteristics extracted from Shiite and Sunni exegesis, epistemic categories such as infallibility and educational categories such as the wisdom to communicate to willing hearts are evident.