The meaning of his statement, “so that it might be acted upon,” is that people should treat as lawful what it declares lawful and as forbidden what it declares forbidden. As for “people have made reciting it the action itself,” this means that they neither reflect upon it nor act upon it.

Another aspect of this etiquette is that the reciter’s chief concern should be to understand what Allah has obligated him to do: to follow His commands and refrain from His prohibitions. His concern should not be, “When will I finish the surah?” Rather, it should be: “When will Allah suffice me, leaving me in need of none besides Him? When will I be among the God-fearing? When will I be among those who excel in goodness? When will I be among the humble? When will I be among the truthful? When will I appreciate the magnitude of His unceasing blessings? When will I thank Allah for them? When will I repent of my sins? When will I comprehend Allah’s address? When will I understand what I recite? When will I heed the Quran’s warnings? When will remembrance of Allah occupy me from remembering anyone besides Him? When will I love what He loves and hate what He hates?” This should be his chief concern when reciting the Quran.

Imam al-Hasan al-Basrī—may Allah have mercy upon him—one of the eminent Successors, said while describing some of the reciters of his time and explaining the importance of reflecting upon and properly understanding the Quran:

“By Allah, it is not a matter of memorizing its letters while neglecting its limits. One of them will even say, ‘I have recited the Quran without omitting a single letter of it,’ yet, by Allah, he has omitted all of it: nothing of the Quran can be seen in his character or deeds. One of them will even say, ‘I can recite an entire surah in a single breath.’ By Allah, such people are neither reciters, scholars, sages, nor devout. Since when were reciters ever like this? May Allah not multiply the likes of such people among mankind.”1.