Alif, Lam, Mim
آلم
The author said:
"Allah knows best what He intended by that", and this is true if we were to assign a meaning to these letters. However, the correct view is that they have no meaning, as stated by Mujahid and others. In themselves, they have no meaning. This is because the Qur'an was revealed in the Arabic language, and compound alphabetic letters have no meaning.
Alif, Ba, Ta, Tha, Jim
أ ب ت ث ج
They have no meaning, but they have a significance, which is to indicate that this noble Qur'an, which baffled you, O Arabs, and baffled others, did not come with new letters that you do not know. Rather, it came with letters that you know and from which you construct your speech, and yet it baffled you. For this reason, you will hardly find a Surah that begins with these alphabetic letters without finding a mention of the Qur'an or one of its characteristics following it, such as:
Alif, Lam, Mim. That is the Book
الم * ذَلِكَ الْكِتَابُ
[Al-Baqarah 1-2]
(2) Allah - there is no deity except Him, the Ever-Living, the Sustainer of existence. (3) He has sent down upon you, [O Muhammad], the Book
آلم * اللَّهُ لا إِلَهَ إِلَّا هُوَ الْحَيُّ الْقَيُّومُ * نَزَّلَ عَلَيْكَ الْكِتَابَ
[Al-Imran: 1-2]
(1) Alif, Lam, Meem, Sad. (2) [This is] a Book revealed to you
آلمص * كِتَابٌ أُنزِلَ إِلَيْكَ
[Al-A'raf: 1]
Alif, Lam, Ra. These are the verses of the wise Book
آلر * الر تِلْكَ آيَاتُ الْكِتَابِ الْحَكِيمِ
[Yunus: 1]. You will also find
(1) Ha, Meem. (2) The revelation of the Book is from Allah, the Exalted in Might, the Wise.
حم * تَنزِيلُ الْكِتَابِ مِنَ اللَّهِ الْعَزِيزِ الْحَكِيمِ
[Al-Jathiyah: 2]
(1) Alif, Lam, Meem. (2) [This is] the revelation of the Book about which there is no doubt from the Lord of the worlds.
آلم * تَنزِيلُ الْكِتَابِ لا رَيْبَ فِيهِ مِنْ رَبِّ الْعَالَمِينَ
[As-Sajdah: 2], and so on.
This
(1) Alif, Lam, Meem (2) Do the people think that they will be left to say, "We believe
آلم * أَحَسِبَ النَّاسُ أَنْ يُتْرَكُوا أَنْ يَقُولُوا آمَنَّا
[Al-Ankabut: 2] does not contain a mention of the Qur'an, but it contains a mention of what is a necessary consequence of the Qur'an, which is His saying:
to say, "We believe" and they will not be tried?
أَنْ يَقُولُوا آمَنَّا وَهُمْ لا يُفْتَنُونَ
[Al-Ankabut: 2] For whoever believes in the Qur'an must be tested.
