The letters 'Ayn and Mim [forming the word 'Amma] amount to one hundred and ten in the major Abjad numerology (al-jummal al-kabir), and the word Ali takes the exact same number within it. The "great news" (al-naba' al-'azim) is our Master, the Commander of the Faithful, as evidenced by his saying (exalted be his might) in some of his sermons: "I am the great news."

The questioning about him is an allusion to the multitude of varying statements and views concerning him. For there is the one who says that he is the immediate first caliph and successor (wasi) of the Messenger without interruption; there is the one who says that he is the fourth of three [i.e., the fourth caliph]; there is the one who believes in his divinity due to the extraordinary powers and miracles that issued from him; and there is the one who attributes that to magic. And there are those who were torn regarding him between the extremes of doubt and certainty, thus living a life of hesitation and bewilderment.