Tafsir of Al-Mu'minoon 23:116

Exaltation is directed towards Him, the Exalted, and His affairs—Glory be to Him—which He directs upon His servants: creation, recreation, rewarding, and punishing, in accordance with ultimate wisdom. This means: He, Glory be to Him, is exalted in His Essence, transcendent beyond resemblance to created beings in His Essence, His attributes, and His actions, and beyond His actions being devoid of wisdom and praiseworthy objectives.

{الْمَلِكُ الْحَقُّ}

Meaning: He who is truly entitled to absolute ownership—bringing into existence and annihilating, beginning and recreating, giving life and causing death, rewarding and punishing—and everything other than Him is owned by Him, subjugated under His sovereignty. It has been said: "Al-Haqq" means the Enduring, who does not cease to exist, nor does His dominion cease. While this is more famous, the former is more consistent with the context.

{لَا إِلَهَ إِلَّا هُوَ}

For everything other than Him is His servant, Exalted is He.

{رَبُّ الْعَرْشِ الْكَرِيمِ}

It is a massive body beyond the world of objects and celestial bodies, and it is the greatest of them. Descriptions of its magnitude have been narrated that stagger the intellects; thus, His being its Lord necessitates that He, Glory be to Him, is the Lord of all bodies and celestial bodies. It is described as "Kareem" (noble/generous) due to its honor; everything honored in its category is described as "Kareem," as in His saying, "And crops and a noble (kareem) station," and His saying, "And speak to them a noble (kareem) word," and others. It has been honored by what Allah has deposited within it of mysteries, and its greatest honor is its specification by His, Glory be to Him, "Istiwa" (establishing) over it. It has been said that attributing nobility (kareem) to it is metaphorical, and the intended meaning is "the Noble is its Lord," or it is intended as a metonymy. It is also said: It is a comparison of the Throne—due to the descent of mercy and blessings from it—to a noble person. Perhaps what we have mentioned is the most apparent.

Aban ibn Taghlib, Ibn Muhaysin, Abu Ja'far, and Isma'il from Ibn Kathir read "Al-Kareemu" in the nominative case as an attribute of the Lord. It is also permissible for it to be an attribute of the Throne as a disconnected descriptor (cut off from the previous grammatical case), and it is sometimes argued that this is more consistent with the reading of the majority.