Tafsir of Al-Baqarah 2:172

"O you who have believed, eat from the good things We have provided you." This means the things you find pleasurable, or from His lawful provisions.

The verse is either a command to the believers to act in accordance with their station by seeking that which is good and avoiding excess in consuming the lawful provisions granted to them—a point that was not derived from the preceding command—or it is a command to them in the same vein as what came before. However, the benefit of specifying them after the general address is to honor them with the address and to pave the way for the command to be grateful.

"Eat" is used here to denote all aspects of benefit, both by clear implication and explicit phrasing.

"And be grateful to Allah" for what He has bestowed upon you. The shift in address [from the third person to the second person] serves to cultivate reverence.

"If you worship Him alone" serves as the justification for the command to be grateful, as if it were said: "Be grateful to Him because you single Him out for worship." Singling Him out for worship indicates that you intend a complete worship that befits His Majesty, and this cannot be perfected except through gratitude, for it is one of the greatest forms of worship. It is for this reason that it is considered half of faith.

It has been reported in a marfu’ (elevated) hadith from Abu al-Darda’ that Allah the Almighty says: "I, along with Jinn and Mankind, am in a momentous affair: I create, yet another is worshipped; I provide, yet another is thanked." The view that the intent [of the phrase] is "if you know Him" or "if you desire His worship" is inferior to the [preceding] view.