joints in his back, while some people remain whose backs are like the horns of cattle.”

When he mentioned those objects of worship, he explained that their likenesses would appear, and that, in the case of prophets who were worshipped, their associated devils would come, even though the worshippers had followed them. He also explained that, when the Lord tested His servants, He Himself appeared to them and showed them the sign by which they recognized Him, whereupon they prostrated. Had the one coming been an angel of Allah or some other created being, explaining this would have been even more necessary than explaining that only the likenesses of those other objects of worship had come, for the former would entail objectionable implications absent from the latter.

Rather, this distinction clearly demonstrates that the One who came to them was the Lord of the worlds, who appeared to them in that form, whereas what those others followed were likenesses of their objects of worship and the devils associated with the prophets. This is because only devils commanded that the prophets be worshipped, while inanimate objects never sought to be worshipped; thus, their worshippers see no difference between them and their likenesses. Allah, glorified be He, is the One who commanded creation to worship Him, and He Himself is the One whom the believers worshipped. It would therefore not be fitting for anyone other than the One they follow—anyone other than Him—to come to them.

Seventeenth: He related that, after His coming to them in the form they recognized, His showing the sign by which they recognized Him, and the prostration of