أول
Awwala
To interpret what is not plainly known, such as dreams or the hidden meanings of a text; verbal noun taʾwīl.
What it means
Awwala means to interpret, and its verbal noun is taʾwīl. Faruqi applies it to what lies beyond ordinary knowledge, such as the meaning of dreams or the inner sense of a text. The root carries the idea of bringing a matter back to its source or final outcome. It comes from the same root as awwal, first, because it traces a matter back to its beginning.
The Quran uses taʾwīl for the interpretation of dreams, as in the story of Joseph, to whom God taught the interpretation of events (12:6). It also uses the word in 3:7, which says that no one knows the taʾwīl of the ambiguous verses except God, and the reading of that verse is discussed by scholars. In later usage taʾwīl came to mean a reading of a text that departs from its apparent sense. For this reason jurists and theologians set conditions for when such a reading is allowed.
Often misunderstood as
That taʾwīl is the same as tafsīr, when the Quran uses it for a deeper interpretation or the final outcome of a matter.
What the sources say
Scholars differ on whether the stop in 3:7 comes before or after “those firmly grounded in knowledge”, and so on whether they too know the taʾwīl.
Term and Arabic as listed in Ismail al Faruqi, Toward Islamic English (International Institute of Islamic Thought, 1995), p. 24, listed as AWWALA. The definition is restated here.