for people who are certain.” And His saying:

“Alif Lām Mīm.
This is the Book in which there is no doubt, a guidance for the God-fearing.”

There is a subtle point here that resolves a possible difficulty: this God-fearing believer need not have been among the God-fearing believers before hearing the Quran. First, that is impossible, since someone who has heard nothing of the Quran cannot be a God-fearing believer. Second, a condition need only accompany that which depends upon it; it need not precede it in time, as with facing the prescribed direction during prayer.

Third, the aim is to clarify two points:

The first is that although the Quran brings about benefit through guidance, admonition, and mercy, there must be a receptive recipient as well as an effective agent. Speech has no effect on someone unreceptive to it, even when it is capable of guiding, admonishing, and bringing mercy. This is true of all speech.

The second is to explain that those guided by it are the God-fearing believers, and that failure to be guided by it indicates an absence of faith and fear of Allah. Thus, one may say, “Those who study the book of Hippocrates are physicians,” even though they were not physicians before studying it, but became physicians through studying it. Likewise, one may say, “The book of Sībawayh is of great benefit to grammarians,” even though they became grammarians only by studying it. Similarly, one may say, “This is a suitable place for archers and riders.”