Abū Jaʿfar said: For each of the views expressed by those whose statements regarding this matter we have described, there is a well-known orientation.

As for those who said that "Alif Lām Mīm" is one of the names of the Qur'an, their statement has two orientations:

One of them is that they intended "Alif Lām Mīm" to be a name for the Qur'an, just as al-Furqān is a name for it. When the meaning of the one who says that is such, the interpretation of His statement: {Alif Lām Mīm * That is the Book} would be in the sense of an oath, as if he said: "By the Qur'an, this Book—there is no doubt in it."

The other is that they intended it to be one of the names of the surah by which it is known, just as all other things are known by their names, which serve as identifying signs for them. Thus, the listener understands from the speaker who says, "Today I recited 'Alif Lām Mīm Ṣād' and 'Nūn,'" which of the surahs of the Qur'an he recited (1), just as he understands from him—when he says, "Today I met ʿAmr and Zayd," while both of them know Zayd and ʿAmr—which of the people he met.

If the meaning of that should seem problematic to a person, such that he says: "How can that be so when the counterparts of 'Alif Lām Mīm'—such as 'Alif Lām Rā'—in the Qur'an belong to a group of surahs? For names are only identifying signs when they distinguish between individual entities; but if they are not distinguishing, then they are not identifying signs."

It is said: Indeed, names—even if, due to many people sharing a single name, they have come to be non-distinguishing except through other meanings attached to them, such as appending the lineage of the named person, his attribute, or his description to differentiate between him and others like him—were undoubtedly established initially for the purpose of distinction. Then, when shared, there arose a need for meanings that differentiate between the two named entities (2). Likewise is the case with the names of the surahs: each name was made—according to the proponent of this view—an identifying sign for the surah named by it. Thus, when that which was named by it shared it with other surahs of the Qur'an, one reporting about