Precise format of symbolic permissions

[Anselm Schüler]

Hi! 

Is there documentation on the precise format of symbolic permissions shown by 
ls and stat?

The documentation for ls isn't very precise and I've seen ls print things this 
doesn't explain*, and the stat documentation says the format is "similar to" ls 
-ld, and I can't even find what -d does with ls.

*that ls might've not been coreutils actually, now that I think about it. still 
a bit imprecise

Is there a full description? Or is the only option to read the source?

Anselm Schüler