Tafsir of Ar-Ra'd 13:9

"Knower of the Unseen"—that is, that which is absent from the senses—"and the Witnessed"—that is, that which is present to them. He expressed them in these terms as an exaggeration. Ibn Abi Hatim narrated from Ibn Abbas that the "Unseen" is the secret, and the "Witnessed" is the public. It has been said: the first is the non-existent, and the second is the existent. It was reported from some that he said: "He, Glorified is He, does not 'know the Unseen' in the sense that there is no Unseen in relation to Him, Majestic is His state; and non-existent things are witnessed by Him, Exalted is He, based on the doctrine of the 'vision of the non-existent,' as al-Kurani demonstrated in a treatise he authored for that purpose." It is not hidden what is in this of excessive audacity toward Allah, Exalted is He, and contradiction to His statement, Majestic is His state: "Knower of the Unseen." It is not befitting for a Muslim to utter such a word, at the hearing of which the bodies of the believers shudder. We ask Allah, Exalted is He, to grant us success in keeping to our limits and to bestow upon us the favor of proper etiquette with Him, Glorified is He.

The nominative case of ‘Alim (Knower) is based on it being the predicate of an omitted subject, or a predicate after a predicate. Zayd ibn Ali, may Allah be pleased with both of them, recited it (‘Aliman) in the accusative case as a form of praise. This statement is like a proof for what preceded it from His statement, Exalted is He: "Allah knows..." etc.

"The Grand": The One of immense status, beneath whom is everything. "The Exalted": The One who transcends everything in His Essence, His Knowledge, and all His attributes, Glorified is He.

It has been permitted that the meaning is: The Grand, who transcends the attributes of created beings which the creation ascribe to Him; and He is Exalted above them. Thus, according to the first interpretation, the intent is to declare Him, Glorified is He, free in His Essence and attributes from the likeness of anything; and according to this, the intent is to declare Him, Exalted is He, free from what the disbelievers describe Him with, and it is a refutation of them, like His statement, Majestic is His state: "Glorified is Allah above what they describe."

The scholar al-Tibi said: "The meaning of 'The Grand, The Exalted' in relation to what precedes it—namely 'Knower of the Unseen and the Witnessed'—is the One of immense status who is too great for the attributes of created beings, so as to combine with Knowledge, Greatness, and Power, in view of what preceded from His statement, Exalted is He: '...no female carries...' to the end of what provides transcendence from what the Christians and polytheists claim."

The nominative case of al-Kabir (The Grand) is based on it being a predicate after a predicate. It is also permitted that ‘Alim (Knower) is the subject and [al-Kabir] is its predicate.