Tafsir of Ar-Rum 30:54

"Allah is He who created you from weakness" (Subject and predicate). This means: He initiated your creation while you were weak, making weakness the foundation of your state, as in His saying, the Exalted: "And man was created weak." Thus, "from" indicates the beginning of the state, and in "weakness," there is a kinayah (implied metaphor), as it is likened to a foundation and a material; incorporating "from" upon it adds a sense of imaginative portrayal. It is also permissible that by "weakness" is meant "the weak one" (the noun), employing the infinitive to denote the descriptor for hyperbole, or by interpreting it as such, or by intending "possessor of weakness." By this, the drop of seminal fluid is intended; meaning, Allah—the Exalted—initiated your creation from a weak origin, which is the drop of fluid, as in His saying: "from a despised fluid." Although this interpretation is transmitted from Qatadah, the first [interpretation] is more appropriate and suitable for His saying, the Exalted: "then He ordained after weakness, strength"—that is, upon your reaching puberty or the soul’s attachment to your bodies—"then He ordained after strength, weakness and white hair." This is when old age takes hold of you. The "weakness" here refers to its inception, which is why "white hair" is mentioned after it, or it may be more general, in which case His saying, the Exalted, "white hair," is for clarification, or to combine the change in their powers with the change in their outward appearance.

'Asim and Hamzah read the dad in "weakness" (du'f) with a fatha in all instances, and this is the recitation of 'Abdullah and Abu Raja'. The majority read it with a damma. Damm and Fath are two dialects regarding this, as in the words al-faqr and al-fuqr; the fatha is the dialect of Tamim, and the damma is the dialect of Quraysh. Hence, the Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—preferred the damma recitation, as reported in a hadith narrated by Abu Dawud, al-Tirmidhi (who classified it as hasan), Ahmad, Ibn al-Mundhir, al-Tabarani, al-Daraqutni, and others, on the authority of Ibn 'Umar—may Allah be pleased with them both—who said: "I recited to the Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—'Allah is He who created you from da'f' (with fatha), and he said: 'From du'f (with damma), O my son,' because it was the dialect of his people—peace be upon him." The Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—did not intend by this to reject the other recitation, for it is also established by revelation just like the recitation he preferred. It is also narrated that 'Asim read with a damma, and it is also narrated that he read the first two with damma and the last with fatha. It is also narrated from Abu 'Abd al-Rahman, al-Jahdari, and al-Dahhak that they read the first with damma and the subsequent ones with fatha.

'Isa read it with both the dad and the 'ayn having a damma, which is also a dialect. It is related from many linguists that du'f (with damma) refers to that which is in the body, and da'f (with fatha) refers to that which is in the mind. The apparent view is that there is no difference between the madmum (damma-voweled) and the maftuh (fatha-voweled), and both are used to describe the body and the mind. The intention behind the second "weakness" is the same as the first—it was made indefinite to correspond with "strength"—and the last is different, for it is the weakness of old age, whereas the former is the weakness of childhood. The intention behind the second "strength" is the same as the first, and it was made indefinite to correspond with "weakness." The rule that "when an indefinite noun is repeated, it is different" is a majority rule, and some have exerted effort to achieve differentiation where it was made indefinite and repeated in the verse; so contemplate this.

"He creates what He wills." This refers to His creating things, among which are the aforementioned weakness, strength, and white hair. Creating them is either in the sense of creating their causes or their loci, or it is the bringing of them into existence themselves, which is the apparent meaning, and there is no need for interpretation, as they are not pure non-existence. "And He is the All-Knowing, the All-Powerful"—the One who is superlative in knowledge and power, for the alternation between the various states mentioned, despite the possibility of others, is among the clearest proofs of knowledge and power.