the inner and outer dimensions of the qur'an

in chapter iv:36 god says, "And serve God and ascribe nothing as a partner to him. " The verse prohibits pre-Islamic Arabs from their worship of idols, just as chapter xxii:30 urges them to "shun the filth of idols, and shun lying speech." On reflection it becomes clear that an idol may exist in any form; therefore, idol-worship is forbidden because it involves submission to an entity other than god.
in chapter xxxvi:60 god treats the devil as an idol when he says, "Did I did not charge you, O you sons of Adam, that you do not worship the devil. " It also becomes clear that another form of idol-worship is submission to one's desires or to the will of others, over and above the will of God; this is indicated in xlv:23 which refers to "him who makes his desire his god. "
Thus it becomes apparent that one should turn to none other for help than God Himself and not forget Him in any circumstances, since to do otherwise would be to direct one's attention away from God. To submit to others is to belittle Him and this is the very essence of idol-worship. Thus, in chapter vii:179 god says of those who refused to worship him, "Already We have urged into hell many of the jinn and humankind, ... These are the neglectful. " The verse, "ascribe nothing to Him, " clearly forbids worships of idols; that is to say, man may not, without God's permission, submit himself to others including his own desires, since any such submission would render him neglectful of god.
In this way, the simple, apparent text of the verse unfolds multiple meanings and exemplifies a feature to be found throughout the Qur'an. Thus the saying of the Prophet, (related in the books of hadith and commentary), become clear: In truth the Qur'an possesses an inner and outer, and the inner contains seven dimensions. 1

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1 See al-Fayd al-Kashani, al-safi fi tafsir al-Qur'an, PP.38-41; 'Abbas al-Qummi, safinat al-bihar, s.v. batn .