Tafsir of An-Nahl 16:83

(They recognize the favor of Allah): This is an inauguration [of a new sentence] to explain that the polytheists’ turning away and aversion from Islam is not because they lack knowledge of the favor of Allah, the Glorified, at all; for they do recognize that it is from Allah, the Exalted.

(Then they deny it): They deny it through their actions, as they did not single out the Bestower of that favor for worship. It is as if they did not worship Him, the Glorified, at all; this ingratitude is treated as equivalent to denial.

Ibn Jarir and others recorded from Mujahid that he said: "Their denial of it is their saying: 'We inherited it from our forefathers.'" He and others also recorded from ‘Awn ibn ‘Abdullah that he said: "Their denial of it is when a man says: 'If it were not for so-and-so, such-and-such would have happened to me; and if it were not for so-and-so, I would not have obtained such-and-such.'" In another wording, denying it means attributing it to secondary causes. It is also said: It is their saying, "It is by the intercession of our deities with Allah." The author of al-Ghunyan narrated that they recognize it during times of hardship, then deny it during times of ease. Others said: They recognize it in their hearts, then deny it with their tongues.

Ibn al-Mundhir and others recorded from as-Suddi that he said: "The 'favor' here is Muhammad, may Allah exalt and grant him peace." at-Tabari favored this, meaning they recognize that he, peace and blessings be upon him, is a Prophet through miracles, yet they deny and reject that out of obstinacy. In the wording of Ibn Abi Hatim, he said this was regarding the conversation between Abu Jahl and al-Akhnas, when al-Akhnas asked Abu Jahl about the Messenger of Allah, may Allah exalt and grant him peace, and he replied: "He is a Prophet."

The meaning of "(then)" here is to denote the inconsistency of denying after having knowledge, for the right of one who recognizes a favor is to acknowledge it and fulfill its obligation, not to deny it. Attributing this knowledge and the subsequent denial to the pronoun representing the polytheists in an absolute sense is an instance of attributing the state of a few to the whole; for some among them were not like that, as is apparent from His saying, the Glorified:

(And most of them are disbelievers) [Meaning: those who deny in their hearts, not acknowledging what has been mentioned. Judging them with absolute disbelief—which implies perfection in terms of quantity—does not contradict the perfection of the first group (the deniers) in terms of quality. This is what has been said.]

It is also permitted that the previous attribution be taken literally, meaning that the majority of them are those who persist and remain upon their disbelief until the day they meet Him. The expression "the majority" is used because Allah, the Exalted, knows that some among them will believe. It is also said: The meaning is that most of them are deniers out of obstinacy, and the expression "the majority" is used either because some did not recognize the truth due to a deficiency in their intellect and failure to be guided to it, or because they did not examine the proofs in a manner that leads to the objective, or because the argument was not established against them as they had not reached the stage of legal accountability (mukallaf) due to youth or similar factors. Alternatively, it may be a case of the part standing in for the whole; so contemplate this.