they recognize,” means, “Allah will come to them with the form they recognize as one of the signs of beneficence.” He may be answered as follows: First, this is false. If what is meant is recognizing Him by His signs, He manifests signs of punishment at times and signs of beneficence at others, and He is the Creator of everything. After mentioning what He mentions in Surah al-Najm, the Exalted says:

“So which of your Lord’s favors do you doubt?” (55) [al-Najm 55]

The same applies to His mention of His signs in Surah al-Rahmān. The Exalted also says:

“I have only been commanded to worship the Lord of this city, who has made it sacred and to whom all things belong; and I have been commanded to be one of those who submit to Him (91) and to recite the Quran. Whoever is guided is guided only for his own benefit; and whoever goes astray—say, ‘I am only one of the warners.’ (92) And say, ‘Praise be to Allah. He will show you His signs, and you will recognize them.’” [al-Naml, verses 91–93]

And the Exalted says:

“We will show them Our signs on the horizons and within themselves until it becomes clear to them that it is the truth.” [Fussilat 53]

Since recognizing Allah through His signs does not depend upon beneficence, this interpretation is invalid.

Tenth: It may be asked: Why, then, did He not show them any beneficence after that, apart from His own manifestation? If His beneficence were what was meant, they would necessarily not recognize Him until He had created some of His blessings in the gathering place, before their recognition of Him and their prostration to Him. Since they recognized Him and prostrated to Him before He created any such thing, it is clear that the intended meaning is not, “When our Lord’s beneficence comes, we will recognize it.”