Vocabulary

Do not exceed (lā taghlū): “Excess” (ghuluww) means transgression and breaking bounds,(104) which sometimes involves passage toward ascent and extremism (ifrāṭ) and sometimes toward decline and negligence (tafrīṭ). But according to the evidence present in the verse, excess (ghuluww) in this verse means extremism and excessiveness in religion; not encompassing both.