Multiple meanings plus imagination. In interpretation, what counts is the ability to understand the different levels of meaning. The person's capacity to understand meaning is the key to interpretation. Imagination is what they contribute. Allegory enabled them to go beyond the literal, emphasizing interpretation.
Allegory works as a mirror for personal ethics, shifting debate on ritual to spiritual significance.
It seems clear to me that an active inner spiritual life has focused the Ismailis on the purpose of religion. They escaped the trap of substituting things that symbolize religious concepts, such as ritual and mimicking text, for what religion was supposed to accomplish in their lives, such as understanding, service to others, and growth. By focusing on purpose, the Ismailis did not get trapped by form. In other words, the symbols of religious experience didn't get substituted for the purpose of it. I have often seen the perversion of society rules, organization charters, and religious teachings.