'In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful' With a book from before this, meaning from before this book, which is the Qur'an. It means that this book speaks of monotheism and the invalidation of polytheism. There is no book revealed before it from the books of Allah except that it speaks similarly. So bring a single book revealed before it that testifies to the truth of what you are upon in worshiping other than Allah, or a remnant of knowledge or a remainder of knowledge that has remained with you from the knowledge of the ancients. This is from their saying: 'The she-camel has become fat on a remnant of fat,' meaning on a remainder of fat that was with it from the fat that has gone. And it is read: 'Athara,' meaning from something you have preferred and specified from knowledge that is not comprehended by others. It is also read: 'Athara' with the three vowel markings on the hamzah and the thaa' being silent. So, 'al-ithrah' with a kasrah means the remnant. As for 'al-athar,' it is the instance from the source: 'He narrated the hadith.' And as for 'al-athrah' with a dhammah, it is the name of what is affected, like 'al-khutbah,' which is the name of what is spoken in a sermon.