Tafsir of Yunus 10:67

This is an admonition regarding His—the Exalted—uniqueness in complete power and comprehensive grace, so as to guide them toward His—glory be to Him—oneness in the entitlement to worship. The definite form of both parts of the nominal sentence indicates restriction (qasr), specifically a restriction of specification (qasr al-ta'yin). In this, there is also a confirmation of what has passed: that all possible existents are under His power and dominion, which articulates the exclusivity of might to Him—the Exalted.

If "made" (ja'ala) is in the sense of bringing into existence and creation, then "brightened" (mubsiran) is a state (hal). If it is in the sense of "transformed into" (tas-yir), then "for you" (lakum) acts as the second object, or it is a state as in the first instance, making the second object "that you may rest therein" (li-taskunu fihi). Alternatively, the second object is omitted, implied by the second object of the second clause, just as the final cause ('illah gha'iyyah) of the second clause is omitted in reliance upon what is in the first. The estimated meaning is: "It is He who made for you the night dark, so that you may rest therein, and the day brightened, so that you may move about in it for your interests." Thus, each part was omitted from the other in favor of what was mentioned over what was left out. In this interpretation, there is the literary art of ihtibak (interlocking/mutual omission), and the verse is famously used as an example of it, which is the apparent reading, though it is not a necessary matter. From this, a group held the view that there is no ihtibak in it.

The departure from [the expected phrasing] "that you may see in it" (li-tubsiru fihi)—which is what the preceding context would dictate—to what is in the majestic arrangement, is to differentiate between the prepositional phrase that is a cause upon which the [resting] depends in the sentence. Attributing "sight/brightness" to the day is metaphorical, like the example in the words of Jarir: "You blamed us, O mother of Ghaylan, for traveling by night, and you slept, while the night of the mounts does not sleep." Or the common saying: "His day is fasting," and other such countless examples. To this [metaphorical interpretation] went Ibn Atiyyah and a group. It is also said that mubsiran is for attribution (nisbah), like "a man with a date-palm" (rajulun tamir), meaning: "possessing sight/light."

"Indeed in that"—that is, in the aforementioned making, or in the night and the day; and the sense of remoteness in the demonstrative pronoun signifies the lofty status and high rank of that which is indicated—"are signs"—that is, proofs and indications of the oneness of Allah—"for a people who hear"—that is, who hear the proofs generally, with a hearing of contemplation and consideration, or who hear these recited verses and their equivalents that alert one to those cosmic signs and command reflection upon them—that hearing which leads them to act according to their requirements. The reason for specifying these [people] with mention, despite the signs being established for the benefit of all, is that they are the ones who benefit from them.