Tafsir of Al-Hijr 15:23

"And indeed, it is We who give life" — by bringing life into existence within certain bodies capable of receiving it.

"And We cause death" — by removing that [life] from them. Life is an existential attribute, and it is, as has been said, a quality that necessitates sensation and voluntary movement, while death is the cessation of that attribute. Some have said: It is an existential attribute that opposes life, based on the apparent meaning of the Almighty's statement: "Who created death," and the verification of this will come, God Almighty willing. It is possible that "giving life" and "death" are generalized to include animals and plants, such that it is said: The intent is the granting of the power of growth and its removal.

The placing of the pronoun [in Nahnu] before the verb is for the purpose of restriction (hasr). It is either an emphasis for the first [pronoun in Inna], or it is a subject whose predicate is the sentence following it, with the whole being the predicate of Inna. It has been deemed permissible that it is a damir fasl (pronoun of separation), though Abu al-Baqa’ rejected this on two grounds: first, that it does not enter upon a verbal predicate, and second, that the lam (in la-nahnu) does not enter upon it. This was challenged in ad-Durr al-Masun on the basis that the second [objection] is erroneous; for the entry of the lam upon it has occurred in the Almighty’s statement: "Indeed, this is the true narrative" (Inna hadha la-huwa al-qasas al-haqq). Its entry upon the present tense verb is among the views held by al-Jurjani and some grammarians, who categorized the Almighty’s statement "Indeed, it is He who originates and repeats" under this. Perhaps the one who deemed it permissible holds this view. It is strange of Abu al-Baqa’ that he rejected it here, yet permitted it in the Almighty’s statement: "And the plot of such people—it will perish," as cited in al-Mughni.

"And We are the inheritors"

Meaning: We are the ones who remain after the annihilation of all creation, the owners of the dominion when the time of metaphorical ownership expires, the ones who judge over everything first and last. No one possesses formal authority or metaphorical ownership [except Us]. In this is a reminder that the one who comes later is not an inheritor of the one who came before, as might appear from the surface of the situation. Interpreting the "Inheritor" as "the One who remains" is narrated from Sufyan and others. It was interpreted as such in the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him): "O Allah, let us enjoy our hearing, our sight, and our strength as long as You give us life, and make it the inheritor from us." This is by way of metaphor.