This article offers a hermeneutic–epistemological rereading of the concepts of muḥkam (clear/firm) and mutashābih (ambiguous/similar) in the Qur’an, arguing that the application of these concepts cannot be reduced to a single fixed and intrinsic level within the text itself. In contrast to traditional explanations, which have generally regarded muḥkam and mutashābih as static and inherent characteristics of Qur’anic verses, the present study proposes a multi-layered model grounded in the theory of levels of understanding and the semantic horizons of the reader. According to this model, the signification of Qur’anic verses emerges in relation to varying degrees of human cognition and interpretive conditions. Consequently, a given verse may appear clear and decisive at one level of understanding, while at another level it may require interpretation and thus be considered mutashābih. The study further demonstrates that certain Qur’anic usages of these two concepts pertain to different levels of analysis—such as textual structure, overall coherence, and the interpretive horizon of the reader—rather than to a single essential classification. Ultimately, the article concludes that reinterpreting muḥkam and mutashābih in light of the multi-layered nature of signification enables a more coherent account of the relationship between sacred text and human understanding, without undermining the coherence or epistemic authority of the Qur’anic text.