Ta'wil

Esoteric interpretation of the Quran, also known as Sufi interpretation and taʾwīl (تأويل), is the allegorical interpretation of the Quran or the quest for its hidden, inner meanings. It was a synonym of conventional interpretation in its earliest use, but it came to mean a process of discerning its most fundamental understandings.Esoteric interpretations do not usually contradict the conventional (in this context called exoteric) interpretations; instead, they discuss the inner levels of meaning of the Quran.

The words Ta'wil and Tafsir have been translated to mean explanation, elucidation, interpretation, and commentary; but from the end of the 8th century onwards, 'ta'wil' was commonly regarded as the esoteric or mystical interpretation of the Quran, while the conventional exegesis of the Quran was called "tafsir". The term batin refers to the inner or esoteric meaning of a sacred text, and zahir to the apparent or exoteric meaning. Esoteric interpretations are found in Sufi, Shia, Sunni, and Baha'i interpretations of the Quran. A hadith which states that the Quran has an inner meaning, and that this inner meaning conceals a yet deeper inner meaning, and so on (up to seven successive levels of deeper meaning), has sometimes been used in support of this view.

Scholars agree that some passages of the Quran leave certain ideas implied rather than stated and that, from the outset, the Quran cautions that some verses are literal in meaning, while others, named "muhkamat" and "mutashabihat" are metaphorical in meaning:

Esoteric exegesis attempts to unveil the inner meaning of the Quran by moving beyond the apparent point of the verses and relating Quranic verses to the inner and metaphysical dimensions of consciousness and existence. The exoteric aspect is the literal word, the law, and the material text of the Quran while the esoteric aspect is the hidden meaning. Esoteric interpretations are more suggestive than declarative, they are 'allusions' rather than 'explanations', they indicate possibilities as much as they demonstrate the insights of each writer.

...
Wikipedia