and their remonstration with their Lord over it. So when He created Adam, taught him the names of all things that He had bestowed upon him and placed before him, and the angels proved unable to know them, Adam informed them of those names, whereupon they said, “Glory be to You! We possess no knowledge except what You have taught us. Indeed, You are al-‘Alim (the All-Knowing), al-Hakim (the All-Wise)” ⦗al-Baqarah 32⦘. Thus they acknowledged Allah’s boundless knowledge and perfect wisdom, and conceded that they were mistaken in questioning their Lord about appointing Adam as vicegerent on the earth that had been created for him and prepared for his descent.

From this we learn that the angels, despite their exalted station and extensive awareness of their Lord, admitted that their knowledge dwindles beside His and that they have no knowledge except from Him. Accordingly, He sealed these verses with those two noble Names, which point to His knowledge of Adam, of what He created for him and upon which He created him, and to His consummate wisdom in that creation together with all the diverse benefits that ensue from it—an instance of the finest harmony between the verse and its closing.

As for His statement about Adam, “Then Adam received words from his Lord, and He turned toward him in mercy; indeed, He is al-Tawwab, al-Rahim (the Accepter of repentance, the Merciful)” ⦗al-Baqarah 37⦘, and for His ending many other verses with these two Names after describing what invites the servant to seek His mercy, forgiveness, enabling grace, and forbearance—their relevance is evident to everyone. Because He is al-Tawwab, al-Rahim, He inclines the hearts of those who repent toward Him and guides them to adopt the means that return them to the sound innate nature by which they recognize their Lord’s favor, value it, give thanks for it, and respond to His call. Thus they refer every concern and affair to their Lord; He rejoices over them, increases them in bounty, turns to them, then forgives them and shows them mercy. He first turns to them by granting them success to repent and to pursue its causes, and He turns to them a second time when He accepts their repentance and answers their plea. For that reason He said in another verse, “Then He turned to them so that they might repent” ⦗al-Tawbah 118⦘—meaning that He inclined their hearts toward Him. Were it not for His enabling grace and for drawing their hearts to that through His universal and revealed favors, they would have no path to it once the commanding self gains mastery, for it commands only evil—except those upon whom Allah shows mercy, protecting them from it and from the insinuations of Satan.

When Allah mentioned abrogation, He affirmed the perfection of His power and His exclusive sovereignty, saying, “Do you not know that Allah has power over all things? Do you not know that to Allah belongs the dominion of the heavens and the earth” ⦗al-Baqarah 106–107⦘. This is a rebuttal of those who deny abrogation, such as the Jews, and that