Tafsir of Al-An'am 6:60

(And He knows what you commit by day) i.e., what you earn and what you do therein of sin, as Ibn Jarir and Ibn al-Mundhir recorded from Ibn 'Abbas—may Allah be pleased with both—and Qatadah. This is what the context of the verse requires, for it is for the sake of threat and rebuke. This is why "He takes your souls" (yatawaffakum) was preferred over "He causes you to sleep" (yunimukum) and similar expressions, and "you commit" (jarahtum) over "you earn" (kasabtum), in order to include the addressed disbelievers into the category of the predatory behavior of birds and beasts. Some make the address general, and the intention of "night" and "day" is the genus realized in every individual instance of them; for the fulfillment of the "fixed term" (al-ajal al-musamma) that is consequent upon them is realized through the "taking of souls" and the "resurrection" existing within them. The "ba" (bi) in both places is in the sense of "by" (ka), as we have indicated.

The intent of His—the Glorified—knowledge of that is—as it is said—His knowledge prior to the commission of the act, as is hinted at by the mention of it preceding the resurrection, i.e., He knows what you will commit. The use of the past tense is to denote certainty. The specification of "taking souls" by night and "committing acts" by day is according to the habitual custom; otherwise, it may be the reverse.

(Then He raises you therein) i.e., He wakes you by day. Whether this is literal in this sense or metaphorical, there are two opinions. What comes to mind in the common usage of the Shari'ah is the resurrection of the dead in the Hereafter; they made it a tarshiḥ (reinforcement of a metaphor) for the "taking of souls." This is very apparent according to what is primary in the custom of the Shari'ah because it is specific to that which is being compared (al-mushabbah bihi). Others say that it is not a condition for the tarshiḥ to be specific to the mushabbah bihi, but rather that it be more specific to it in some way, as they established in the statement: "It has a mane, its claws were not trimmed." Resurrection in the case of the dead is stronger because the lack of sensation in it is likewise [absolute], so removing it is more intense. They have also stated that the tarshiḥ may remain in its literal sense, following the metaphor, intended only to strengthen it, or it may be borrowed from the appropriate characteristics of the source of the metaphor for the appropriate characteristics of that to which it is likened.

The sentence is a conjunction to "He takes your souls," and the interpolation of "And He knows..." between them is to clarify the immense favor in your resurrection by alerting that while the sins they commit are such that they deserve to be kept in the state of "taking the soul"—or rather, annihilated completely—He—the Glorified—bestows life upon them and grants them respite, as indicated by the word of delay (thumma). It is as if it were said: He is the One who takes your souls in the genus of nights, then He raises you in the genus of days, while He—the Majestic and Exalted—knows what you commit in them.

(That a fixed term may be fulfilled) A term specified for every individual, which is the term of his remaining in this world. Al-Zamakhshari strained in interpreting the verse, making the pronoun in "therein" function as a demonstrative noun returning to the content of them being taken and earning, and [making] the "in" (fi) have the meaning of the "lam" of causality (li), as in your saying: "For what (fima) did you call me?" And the "fixed term" is the state of being in the graves; i.e., then He raises you from the graves for that matter with which you cut short your lives—of sleeping by night and earning sins by day—and for the sake of it, so that the term which He—the Glorified—named and set for the resurrection of the dead and their requital for their deeds may be fulfilled.

What we have mentioned is what al-Zajjaj, al-Jubba'i, and the majority of exegetes followed, and it is free from the strain for which there is no need. Some claimed that the reason for this [strain] is that His saying: "And He knows what you commit by day" indicates the state of wakefulness and their earning therein, and the word "then" (thumma) necessitates the delay of the resurrection after it; hence al-Zamakhshari resorted to what he resorted to. Some researchers said: His saying—the Glorified—"And He knows..." is a reference to what was earned in the day preceding that night, and the "wa" is for the state (hal), and there is no indication in it of waking from this [nocturnal] taking, and that waking is delayed after the taking. And our statement: "He does that taking so that the period of life estimated for it may be fulfilled" is speech that is perfectly ordered. It is not hidden that there is strain in this as well, besides the fact that the waw of state does not enter upon the present tense except rarely or out of necessity in the famous view. The aspect of the delay implied by "then" is that the reality of the death at night is realized at its beginning, and the waking is delayed from it, even if it is not delayed from its entirety.

It was objected that in that case, there is no rationale for interpolating "And He knows..." between them. This is a point of view that can be understood from what we have mentioned.

(Then unto Him) the Glorified—not to anyone else at all— (is your return) i.e., your returning and your destination through death. (Then He will inform you of what you used to do) By requiting you for the deeds that you used to persist in doing in the world.