They also contain mention of Islam and īmān (faith) and the distinction between the two.
They affirm the enduring signs of the Lord which point to His oneness, to the truthfulness of His messengers, and to the Last Day.
They further declare that none of this can benefit anyone except the one whose heart trembles at the prospect of the punishment of the Hereafter—that is, those who truly believe in it—whereas whoever neither fears nor believes in the Hereafter will gain no benefit from those signs.

So now listen to some of the particulars (1) of this comprehensive statement:

God, exalted be He, says: “Has the story of Abraham’s honored guests reached you?” (24)

God—glorified is He—opens the narrative with a formulation that is outwardly interrogative, yet its purpose is not (2) an actual request for information (3). For this reason some scholars (4) have said that in such contexts the particle hal functions like qad, which conveys certainty.

Yet the use of this interrogative hides a subtle secret and a beautiful meaning. When a speaker wishes to inform his listener (5) of something astonishing that deserves careful attention and full concentration, he will preface his words with a particle that alerts (6) the listener’s ear and mind to what is coming. At times he begins with alā, and at other times with hal, saying: “Have you learned what happened concerning such-and-such?”—either reminding him of it, or