Tafsir of Al-A'raf 7:56

(And do not cause corruption upon the earth) is a prohibition against all types of corruption, such as corrupting souls, wealth, lineages, intellects, and religions, (after its reformation), meaning: after Allah the Exalted reformed it by creating it in a manner suitable for the benefits of creation and the interests of those who are religiously obligated, and by sending prophets within it with the rulings He ordained.

(And invoke Him in fear and aspiration), meaning: being people of fear that your invocation might be rejected due to your deficiency in attaining the qualifications for a response, and [people of] aspiration that He will answer you out of His grace. It is also said: "In fear of His punishment and aspiration for His abundant reward."

Ibn Jurayj said the meaning is: "Fear of the Just One and aspiration for His bounty." From ‘Ata’, it is said: "In fear of the balances and in aspiration for the Gardens." The essence of "fear" (al-khawf) is the agitation of the heart due to a lack of security against harm. It is also said to be the expectation of an unpleasant outcome that may occur later. "Aspiration" (al-tama’) is the expectation of something beloved that one may attain. Their grammatical position (as hal—state of being) is as indicated.

It is permitted that they be in the position of the maf’ul li-ajlihi (the object for which the action is done). It is said: Because invocation (to Allah) is of such high importance, He repeated it, qualifying it first with outward attributes and lastly with inward attributes. It is also said: The first command is by way of setting a condition for invocation, and the second is by way of stating its benefit. Others have said there is no repetition, for what preceded is a command to invoke in the sense of asking, while this is a command to invoke in the sense of worship. The meaning is: "Worship Him, gathering within yourselves fear and hope in your worship, both internal and external." This view is as you see. Among people, there are those who kept "invocation" (al-du’a) to its literal meaning and generalized the object of "fear and aspiration," with the meaning being: "Invoke Him while you are gathering within yourselves fear and hope in all your deeds." However, this is not a strong position. The chosen view among the majority of exegetes is what has preceded.

(Indeed, the mercy of Allah is near to the doers of good). And among the excellence (ihsan) in invocation is that it be accompanied by fear and aspiration. Much discussion has taken place regarding the justification for the masculine form of (qarib) (near), despite it being an adjective/predicate for a feminine noun. Ibn Hisham reported several views on this, mentioning their strengths and weaknesses:

1. The first: That "mercy" (rahmah) is in the estimation of an addition (ziyadah), and the Arabs may add a noun. He (Subhanahu wa Ta’ala) said: (Exalt the name of your Lord, the Most High), meaning: Exalt your Lord. Do you not see that in glorification it is said "Subhan Rabbi" (Glory to my Lord), and it is not said "Subhan ismi Rabbi" (Glory to the name of my Lord)? The estimate is that Allah the Exalted is near, so the predication is in reality for the Greatest Name. This was countered by saying it is not valid according to the scholars of Basra, because nouns are not "added" in their view; only letters are. The meaning of the verse to them is: "Declare the names of your Lord free from what does not befit them."
2. The second: That it is based on the omission of a noun (mudaf), meaning: "The place of the mercy of Allah is near," so the predication is about the "place," which is masculine.
3. The third: That it is based on the omission of the qualified noun, meaning "a thing that is near," as the poet said: "You left me in the house, dha ghurbah (a person possessed of strangeness)."
4. The fourth: That the Arabs give the mudaf (the possessed) the ruling of the mudaf ilayh (the possessor) in masculinity and femininity if it is possible to dispense with it.
5. The fifth: That fa’il in the sense of maf’ul (passive participle) is the same for both masculine and feminine, like a man being jarih (wounded) and a woman being jarih. Countered as being a grave error, because fa’il here is in the sense of fa’il (active participle).
6. The sixth: That fa’il in the sense of fa’il may be assimilated to fa’il in the sense of maf’ul to prevent the ta (feminine marker) in the feminine, just as they assimilate fa’il (passive) to fa’il (active) and add the ta.
7. The seventh: That the Arabs may predicate about the mudaf ilayh not the mudaf.
8. The eighth: That rahmah (mercy) and rahm (womb/relation) are close in wording and meaning, so one is given the ruling of the other.
9. The ninth: That fa’il here is in the sense of attribution (nisbah), so qarib means "possessor of nearness."
10. The tenth: That fa’il absolutely is shared between feminine and masculine.
11. The eleventh: That they say qarib for closeness of kinship, even if applied to a feminine, such as "She is qarib (close) to me," distinguishing it from distance.
12. The twelfth: Interpreting the feminine as a masculine that agrees with it in meaning, such as "the grace (ihsan) of Allah is near" or "the kindness (lutf) of Allah is near."
13. The thirteenth: That the intended meaning of rahmah here is "rain." Rain is masculine. It is supported by the fact that rahmah elsewhere is used to mean rain.

I hold the view that fa’il here is in the sense of the active participle, not the passive as Al-Kirmani claimed, and because rahmah is an attribute of the Essence. The omission of the feminine marker is a sign to those of sound mind that it is very near to the doers of good. Some chose to interpret rahmah here as "excellence" (ihsan) because of the mention of "the doers of good" (muhsinin), "Is there reward for good other than good?" Perhaps it is considered to include both worldly and otherworldly excellence. Ibn Jubayr interpreted it as "the reward," and what readily comes to mind from that is otherworldly excellence.

Al-Zamakhshari made the verse analogous to His saying: (And indeed, I am the Perpetual Forgiver of whoever repents...), meaning He linked mercy with the excellence of deeds, just as He linked forgiveness with repentance, faith, and righteous deeds. It is an indication of what his sect claims, that the perpetrator of a major sin is not saved from the Fire because he is not among the "doers of good." The response is that the perpetrator of a major sin is a believer in Allah and His Messenger, and whoever is like that is a "doer of good," for if a child reaches puberty, believes, and dies before noon, the community is unanimous that he falls under His saying: (For those who have done good is the best reward); thus he is a doer of good by virtue of faith alone.