“Should I take gods besides Him? If the Most Merciful intends harm for me, their intercession will be of no benefit to me, nor can they rescue me.”

“Indeed, I would then be clearly astray.”

“Indeed, I have believed in your Lord, so listen to me.”

His statement:

“He invokes besides Allah that which neither harms him nor benefits him”

is an unrestricted negation, as in His statement:

“And has no power to harm or benefit them.”

Thus, it cannot harm anyone, whether he worships it or not, nor benefit anyone, whether he worships it or not. The explanation offered by some—“It does not benefit if worshipped, nor harm if not worshipped”—clarifies that there is no reason to place hope in it or fear it. This contrasts with the Lord, who honours His worshippers and has mercy on them, while humiliating and punishing those who do not worship Him.

The precise understanding, however, is that it can neither benefit nor harm in any circumstances. For Allah—glorified be He—encompasses all things in His mercy and bestows blessings upon many of His creatures even though they do not worship Him. The benefit He grants His servants is therefore not confined to His worshippers, although this requires further explanation for which this is not the place. Whatever is besides Him benefits neither those who worship it nor those who do not.

He—glorified be He—is the One who brings harm and benefit: He is able to harm whomever He wills, although the harm He brings upon His worshippers is a mercy for them. As Job said:

“Adversity has touched me, and You are the Most Merciful of the merciful.”

The Most High said:

“If Allah touches you with harm, none can remove it but He.”

He also said to His Messenger Muhammad, may Allah bless him and grant him peace:

“Say, ‘I have no power to benefit or harm myself except as Allah wills.’”

And the Most High said:

“And those who are patient in poverty and hardship and during battle.”

He—glorified be He—also brings harm upon those who cannot be described as disobedient, such as children, the insane, and animals, because of the wisdom and blessing