His name, Allah; the Lam is the key to His name, Latif (the Subtle); and the Mim is the key to His name, Majid (the Glorious). So the Alif is for Allah, the Lam is for the Gentleness (Lutf) of Allah, and the Mim is for the Glory (Majd) of Allah. The Alif is six, the Lam is thirty, and the Mim is forty.

It was narrated from al-Rabi‘ ibn Anas similarly.

[The Fourth Aspect]

17125 - My father narrated to us, Abu Hudhayfah narrated to us, Shibl narrated to us, from Ibn Abi Najih: Alif-Lam-Mim is one of the names of the Qur'an. It was narrated from Qatadah and Zayd ibn Anas similarly.

[The Fifth Aspect]

17126 - al-Husayn ibn al-Hasan narrated to us, Ibrahim ibn ‘Abd Allah ibn Hatim al-Harawi narrated to us, Hajjaj ibn Muhammad reported to us, Ibn Jurayj said: It was reported to us from Mujahid that he said: Alif-Lam-Mim are openings with which Allah opens the Qur'an.

[The Sixth Aspect]

17127 - Abu Sa‘id al-Ashajj narrated to us, Ibn ‘Ulayyah narrated to us, from Khalid, from ‘Ikrimah: Regarding Alif-Lam-Mim, he said: It is an oath.

His saying, the Exalted: "Do the people think that they will be left..."

17128 - My father narrated to us, Muhammad ibn Sulayman narrated to us, Isma‘il ibn Zakariyya narrated to us, from Muhammad ibn ‘Awn, from ‘Ikrimah, from Ibn ‘Abbas regarding His saying: "Alif-Lam-Mim. Do the people think that they will be left [merely] because they say 'We believe' and they will not be tested?" He said: The Prophet, may the peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, would send those after him, or whomsoever Allah willed among them, that we are upon the methodology of the Prophet and his path. So Allah would send down trials upon them; whoever remained firm among them upon what he was upon, he is the truthful one, and whoever deviated to other than that, he is a liar.

17129 - My father narrated to us, Ahmad ibn ‘Abd al-Rahman narrated to us, ‘Abd Allah ibn Abi Ja‘far narrated to us, from his father, from al-Rabi‘ ibn Anas regarding His saying: "Alif-Lam-Mim. Do the people think that they will be left?" He said: The Prophet, may the peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, had commanded men, and they thought that the matter would be easy. But when they were harmed for the sake of Allah, groups among them apostatized. He also said regarding another verse: "Or do you think that you will enter Paradise while such [trial] as came to those who passed on before you has not yet come to you? They were touched by poverty and hardship and were shaken." He said: So the companions of the Prophet, may the peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, would say: The sunan (traditions/trials) have come to us.