In verse 151 of surah al-Baqarah, Allah describes some of the directives given to His prophets with regards to the aims and objectives of their mission. I would like to focus here on the aspect of purification. What is meant here by purification is spiritual purification, as Allah repeats in 91:9: 'Successful indeed is the one who purifies their soul'. This verse comes after seven consecutive verses where Allah swears by different objects, the sun, the moon, day and night and so forth. After these oaths, Allah says that He has created the human soul in such a way that it can attain success (falah) through a process of purification, this process has been laid out by the Qur'an and taught by the Prophet (sws). Right and wrong, moral and immoral, are known to our nafs—and it is up to ourselves which direction we choose.

Regarding the oaths taken by Allah preceding verse 9 of surah Shams, Abu A'la al-Mawdudi says in his Tafhim al-Qur'an that they all mention opposites, and that this is a way for Allah to illustrate the contradicting forces that He inspired (فَأَلْهَمَهَا) man's soul with.

Furthermore, I think it is interesting how in verse 151 of surah al-Baqarah, the order of the actions mentioned is the following:

- Recital of the Revelation - Purification - Teaching of the Book and wisdom - Teaching of the unknown

This is the methodology that Allah has sent His Prophet (sws) with, as a mercy to the worlds and as a deliverer of the last message onto jinn and mankind. Through the prophetic methodology of delivering Allah's message, we can also discern a suitable methodology for ourselves when looking to purify ourselves to receive Allah's message anew, when reading and reciting the Qur'an. Through recitation (listening to the message, understanding its implications and the action it calls us to) we can set out on the journey to purify our souls. Only after purification can we truly grasp the deeper realities of the Qur'an and its message and wisdom, and this deeper knowledge will in turn enable us to learn about the external world, about our innermost selves, and every type of knowledge made available to us by Allah. Then we will truly understand the meaning of the ayah 6:38: 'We have neglected nothing in the Book (of Our decrees). Then unto their Lord they will be gathered.' We will also begin to understand the words of great scholars such as Jalal al-Din as-Suyuti who said that all sciences or branches of knowledge are to be found in the Qur’an.