Is “The Qur’an Has an Outward and Inward Meaning up to Seventy Layers” a Hadith?

Question

[ar]إِنَّ لِلْقُرْآنِ ظَهْراً وَبَطْناً إِلَى سَبْعِينَ الْبَطْنِ[/ar] “Indeed the Qur’an has an outward (zahir) and an inward (batin) [meaning], up to seventy inward [layers]” — and in another version: [ar]إِلَى سَبْعِينَ بَطْناً[/ar] (“up to seventy batn”). What is the translation of this, and is it a hadith or not?

Answer

I do not recall having seen it in this wording in any book of hadith.

Source: Fatawa Mahmudiyya

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