Thus Allah, exalted be He, has urged the believers to contemplate the whole of the Quran, exempting nothing. He rebukes those who fail to do so, and makes clear that the purpose of its revelation is that those to whom it was sent should reflect upon it and that people of sound intellect should take admonition. Were its meanings not accessible through reflection, the command to ponder it would be mere rhetoric, time spent in doing so would be wasted, the very wisdom behind its revelation would be lost, and any censure for neglecting it would be groundless.

This exhortation to reflection embraces every kind of verse: informational verses that convey matters of belief and knowledge, as well as legislative verses that lay down practical rulings. Just as we are commanded to study the legal verses so as to grasp their meaning and act upon them—for action is impossible without comprehension—we are likewise commanded to study the informational verses so as to understand their meaning, affirm the truths they contain, and praise Allah accordingly; one cannot believe what one does not understand, nor extol Allah for what one has not grasped.

As for the rational proof that the meanings of Allah’s self-descriptions are knowable, it rests on two considerations:

1. What Allah has said about Himself ranks higher than any other report and is the noblest quest of the righteous. It is therefore inconceivable that His self-disclosures should be devoid of meaning while His statements about Pharaoh, Haman, Qārūn, the peoples of Noah, ʿĀd, Thamūd, and those who came after them are perfectly intelligible. The human need to understand what Allah has said about Himself is far greater and more urgent.

2. It is likewise inconceivable that Allah would reveal to His servants a Book designed to acquaint them with His names, attributes, actions, and rulings, describe that Book as lofty, wise⦗1⦘, noble⦗2⦘, and magnificent⦗3⦘, and yet have its most exalted passages bereft of comprehensible meaning.