147 Preface ما يَفعَلُ اللَّهُ بِعَذابِكُم إِن شَكَرتُم وَآمَنتُم ۚ وَكانَ اللَّهُ شاكِرًا عَليمًاYusuf AliWhat can God gain by your punishment, if ye are grateful and ye believe? Nay, it is God that recogniseth1 (all good), and knoweth all things.There is no pleasure nor advantage to God in punishing His own creatures, over whom He watches with loving care. On the contrary He recognises any goodhowever little-which He finds in us, and delights to give us a reward beyond all measure. His recognition of us is compared by a bold metaphor to our gratitude to Him for His favours. The epithet Shakir is applied to God, as here, in 2:158, and other passages. In 16:121 it is applied to Abraham: “he showed his gratitude for the favours of God, who chose him and guided him to a Straight Way.”