Tafsir of An-Nahl 16:3

Then, He, Exalted is He, commenced the exposition of the intellectual proofs indicating His Oneness—which is the ultimate purpose of the mission of the Messengers, peace be upon them—saying, Mighty is He as the Speaker: "He created the heavens and the earth by the truth."

Some of the researchers have mentioned that He, Exalted is His Majesty and Magnificent is His Proof, has exhausted the proofs of monotheism and the attribution of His Noble Essence with the attributes of Majesty and Honor in a marvelous style. In it, He combined the indication of the created work upon the Creator and the bounty upon the Bestower of bounty, alerting that each one is sufficient to turn the polytheists away from the polytheism they are in. Upon this revolves the noble Surah; whenever He shows them a group of insights, He includes within them the rebuke for their ingratitude and their denial of the two blessings of providence and guidance. Look at its opening and then at its conclusion in His saying, Glorified is He: "And be patient..." until the end of the Surah; it will reveal to you some of what the Noble Book contains of the secrets of rhetoric and the lights of inimitability.

The intended meaning of "the heavens and the earth" is either these known celestial bodies and physical masses, or the direction of the high and the low. That is, He brought them into existence, invested with what is due to them according to the requirements of wisdom. Thus, it indicates a Creator who is Living, All-Knowing, All-Powerful, Volitional, and One in Divinity and Lordship; otherwise, the possibility of mutual obstruction would follow—which necessitates the possibility of the impossible—as has been clarified in the science of scholastic theology. For this reason, He followed this with His saying, Exalted is He: "Exalted is He above what they associate [with Him]."

Al-A'mash read it as fata'ala (with an fa). The word ma (what) may be interpreted as an infinitive particle—meaning: He is exalted and sanctified in His Essence and His actions above their associating partners with Him—or it may be relative, with the meaning: Exalted is He above the partnership of what they associate with Him of falsehood, which neither originates creation nor restores it.

The verse is used as evidence that He, Exalted is He, is not of the category of bodies or physical masses, as the Anthropomorphists (Mujassimah) claim. The aspect of this is that the verse indicates the need of bodies and physical masses for a Creator who is glorified and exalted, and who is not of their genus; otherwise, He would be in need, and therefore not a Creator. By intending both directions [of interpretation], the aspect of the indication from the verse becomes more evident. Al-Kisa'i read it as tushrikun (you associate) with the ta.