Believing "in" and giving credit "to"
The verb آمَنَ changes meaning with its preposition. آمَنَ بِـ is to believe in something or someone: God, the Last Day, what escapes the senses. آمَنَ لِـ is to give credit to a person: to accept his word, to take his side.
The survey finds 14 uses of آمن followed by لـ before a person. In all of them the object is not a reality one adheres to, but someone whose testimony one accepts:
- Fir'awn reproaches the magicians: « ءَامَنتُمْ لَهُۥ قَبْلَ أَنْ ءَاذَنَ لَكُمْ », "You gave him credit before I gave you permission" (20:71): they took Moussa's word;
- Youssof's brothers tell their father: « وَمَآ أَنتَ بِمُؤْمِنٍۢ لَّنَا », "you will not give us credit" (12:17): he will not believe their story;
- in 9:61 the two constructions follow each other in one sentence: « يُؤْمِنُ بِٱللَّهِ وَيُؤْمِنُ لِلْمُؤْمِنِينَ », "he believes in God, gives credit to the believers".
That verse is the clearest proof: if both constructions meant the same, the second would be a repetition; the text distinguishes them by placing them side by side.
It refutes the hypothesis that آمن is only ever construed with بـ (see “The verb آمن has more than one preposition”). The rendering is fixed in each language: "faire crédit à" (FR), "give credit to" (EN), "dar crédito a" (ES), "dare credito a" (IT), "percaya" (ID, reserved for this use), "поверить" as against "уверовать" (RU).
In the text
يُؤْمِنُ بِٱللَّهِ وَيُؤْمِنُ لِلْمُؤْمِنِينَءَامَنتُمْ لَهُۥ قَبْلَ أَنْ ءَاذَنَ لَكُمْوَمَآ أَنتَ بِمُؤْمِنٍۢ لَّنَاٱلَّذِينَ يُؤْمِنُونَ بِٱلْغَيْبِ