The word 'ask' is a command for the Messenger, blessings and peace be upon him, or for anyone. This question is a question of rebuke, as the disbelievers will be asked on the Day of Resurrection: 'How many clear signs have We given them through the hands of their Prophets, which are their miracles, or from signs in the books that testify to the truth of the religion of Islam?' And the blessings of Allah are His signs, and they are the greatest blessing from Allah, because they are the means of guidance and salvation from misguidance. Their changing of it means that Allah manifested it to be the means of their guidance, yet they made it the means of their misguidance. As His saying: 'So it increased them in filth upon their filth.' Or they distorted the verses of the books that indicate the religion of Muhammad, blessings and peace be upon him. If you say: Is 'how many' interrogative or informative? I say: It can carry both meanings. The meaning of the question here is for the purpose of rebuke. If you say: What does 'after it came to him' mean? I say: It means after he was able to know it or recognized it, as in His saying: 'Then they distort it after they understood it?' Because if he was not able to know it or did not recognize it, it would be as if it were absent from him: and it was read: 'And whoever changes' with a lightening of the letters.