Certain and ʿIlm-i Ladunnī (علم لدنّی) Types Knowledge in the Quran

Certain Knowledge

There are three levels of specific knowledge mentioned in the Quran. The word yaqn (), which means certainty, is the inverse of doubt, just as knowledge is the inverse of ignorance. The three levels of knowledge in the Quran that are mentioned as follows:

1. Ilm al- yaqn ( ): when someone believes in something based on arguments and proof. For example, a person may see smoke and conclude that there is a fire.

2. Ayn al-yaqn ( ): This is the stage at which a person witnesses something through the eyes of the heart and soul, that is, through insight and intuition.

3. aqq al- yaqn ( ): This is knowledge that is equivalent to someone entering a fire and feeling it and knowing what it is like. This is the most certain level of certainty. 

This is knowledge that is consistent with and in accordance with external reality, and it is free of ambiguity and doubt. 

ʿIlm-i Ladunnī (علم لدنّی)

[There] they found one of Our servants whom We had granted mercy from Ourselves, and taught him knowledge from Our own. 25

This knowledge is one in which no one else has a hand except God, and senses or thoughts are not mediators of this knowledge. It cannot be obtained through acquisition or argument, as evidenced by the verse's phrase "from Our own." This section of the verse explains that this knowledge is ilm-i ladunn, which can only be obtained by Imams and people of very high status, i.e. saints. From the following verses, one can deduce that it refers to knowledge of event interpretation. 26