Tafsir of An-Nahl 16:56

It has been said that it is conjoined to "they associate," but that is not correct. It has also been said that it is perhaps conjoined to what preceded it in terms of meaning, as an enumeration of their offenses—that is, they do what they do of what has been narrated to you, and they assign to what they do not know—meaning, to their deities whose states they do not know, and that they neither harm nor benefit—given that "what" (ma) is a relative pronoun with the referent omitted, and the plural pronoun refers to the disbelievers, or to their deities which possess no knowledge of anything because they are inanimate objects, given that "what" (ma) is also a relative pronoun denoting the deities, and the pronoun in "they know" refers to them, while the object of "they know" is omitted to intend generalization. It is also permitted that it be treated as an intransitive verb, meaning that knowledge is not part of their nature. The plural form for rational beings is used because they attribute to the deities the characteristics of the people themselves.

It is also possible that "what" (ma) is an infinitive particle (masdariyyah), the plural pronoun refers to the polytheists, and the lam is for causality, not a connector to the plural as in the first two interpretations, and its predicate is omitted because it is understood—meaning: they assign to their deities, because of their ignorance, a portion of that which We have provided them of crops, livestock, and other things that He has multiplied, as a means of drawing near to them.

"By Allah, you will surely be questioned"—a questioning of rebuke and censure in the Hereafter. It is also said: at the time of the punishment of the grave, and it is said: when approaching death—"concerning what you used to invent"—previously, by claiming that they were true deities and by drawing near to them. In starting the sentence with an oath and shifting the speech from the third person to the second person, there is a manifestation of extreme anger due to the intensity of the threat that is not hidden.