[UvjqTVVC]

does anyone know the surah, ayah number that mentions that some ayat are metaphorical and others are more literal?

[Sheelldaw]

http://tanzil.net/#3:7

[UvjqTVVC]

Found it: http://www.islamawakened.com/quran/3/7/default.htm

I was curious if it used the same word or root Mathal (metaphor, example, parable) found in the ayat al-noor. Instead it uses SH-B-H.

Does mutashābihātun mean ‘obscure, ambiguous, not clearly intelligible, understood by Allah only’, or is it more along the lines of Mathal, i.e. ‘metaphorical, figurative, allegorical’?

In the translation and tafsir of Shabbir Ahmed:

(The Book He has sent down bears an important Principle.) He it is Who has revealed to you (O Prophet) the Scripture. In it some verses are Literal, while some verses are Allegorical. The verses that pertain to Permanent Values have been presented literally. These verses, MUHKAMAT, are the Essence of the Divine Law. On the other hand, abstract phenomena, historical events, and the World of the Unseen are described in similes, metaphors and allegories for your understanding (MUTASHABIHAT). But those who are given to crookedness in their hearts pursue the allegories and try to give them literal meanings, thus creating dissension. None knows their final meaning (of such as the Essence of God, His Throne, His Book of Decree, the Eternity) but Allah. Those who are well founded in knowledge understand why the allegories have been used and they keep drawing lessons from them (74:31). They proclaim the belief that the entire Book is from their Lord. As the human knowledge evolves, many of the other allegories will unfold their literal meaning (41:53). But only the men and women of understanding will bear this fact in mind. (Each of the verses in the Qur'an is MUHKAM, Absolute Truth and you can understand which ones are to be taken literally and which ones are to be taken allegorically, by the context (11:1), (47:20). And each verse in the Book complements the other (39:23)).

[Sheelldaw]

Mutashabih means: intricate, unintelligible, referring to a word or text whose meaning is not totally clear.