Al-A‘raf: (69) "Do you wonder that there has come to you..."

(And remember when He made you successors) This is the commencement of explaining the arrangement of the decrees regarding advice, integrity, and warning, and detailing them. As understood by some and explicitly stated by others, "when" (idh) is a noun in the accusative case as the object of a verb omitted here—due to the indication provided by what follows—on account of it implying the meaning of a verb. Many have chosen, following Al-Zamakhshari, that it is the object of "Remember," meaning: remember this time that encompasses these momentous blessings. Directing the command of "remembering" to the time rather than to what occurred within it—even though the latter is the primary intended object—is for the sake of hyperbole in making its remembrance obligatory, and because if the time is brought to mind, the details within it are present as well. This is based on the permissibility of loose usage in time-based adverbs or that it is not necessarily bound by the rules of adverbial objects, contrary to what is famous among grammarians. The "and" (waw) is for conjunction, and what follows is said to be conjoined to His saying, "Worship [Allah]," though its distance from that is clear.

Sheikh al-Islam said: It is perhaps conjoined to an implied verb, as if it were said: "Do not wonder at that, but rather reflect," so He commands you, "and remember when He made you successors (after the people of Noah)." This means: in their dwellings, or in the earth, by making you kings; for Shaddad ibn ‘Ad was among those who ruled the inhabited earth, so the attribution in this is metaphorical. In mentioning Noah, according to what is said, there is an indication to dispel wonder, meaning: this which I have brought to you is not a novelty; so remember Noah and his mission to his people, and [remember] the threat and the warning, meaning: remember the destruction of his people for denying the messenger of their Lord.

(And increased you in creation) That is, in formation and shaping, or among the created beings, meaning: He increased you among the people over your peers (with stature)—strength and an increase in physique. Al-Kalbi said: The height of the tallest among them was one hundred cubits, and the shortest was sixty cubits.

Ibn ‘Asakir recorded from Wahb that he said: The head of a man among them was like a great dome, and in his eye, beasts of prey could hatch their young. ‘Abd ibn Humayd recorded from Qatadah that he said: It was mentioned to us that they were twelve cubits tall. From Al-Baqir, may Allah be pleased with him: They were like tall palm trees, and a man among them would go to a mountain and demolish a great piece of it with his hand.

Ibn Ahmad and Ibn Abi Hatim recorded from Abu Hurayrah: A man among them would take a slab of stone, and if five hundred from this nation were to gather upon it, they would not be able to lift it, and one of them would place his foot into the earth, and it would sink into it.

From some, it is said that one of them was taller than the rest of creation by the measure of a human stretching out his hand above his head, extending it; so the height of each of them was [a certain] stature and increase. This is more plausible to those whose minds are too short to grasp the span of the Hand of Power. Ibn Ishaq ibn Bishr and others recorded from Ibn ‘Abbas, may Allah be pleased with them, that Hud, peace be upon him, was the most handsome of them in face, similar to their stature, white-skinned, with curly hair, having a visible tuft of hair on the lower lip, and a long beard.

The grammatical case of "stature" (bastah) is the accusative as the object of the verb before it; it is also said to be a specification (tamyiz), and "in creation" is linked to the verb. Abu al-Baqa’ permitted it to be linked to an omitted term that functions as a state (hal) for "stature."

(So remember the favors of Allah) That is, His blessings—Exalted is He. It is the plural of ala’, with a kasra then a sukun, like haml and ahmal; or uli, with a damma then a sukun, like qufl and aqfal; or ili, with a kasra then a fatha, shortened like ma‘i and am‘a’; or with two fathas, shortened like qafa and aqfa’. By these two, the verse of Al-A‘sha is cited: "White, who fears no leanness, breaks no kinship, and betrays no ally." It is also said that the la’ in the verse is the doubled al-ala’ (al-ala’), but it was lightened, and its meaning is "the covenant," though there is distance in this. This is a repetition of the reminder for the sake of increasing confirmation and generalizing the effect after specifying it, meaning: remember the favors, among which are those previously mentioned.

(That you might succeed) That is, so that the remembrance of these blessings might lead you to gratitude for them—part of which is acting according to the pillars [of the faith] and obedience—which leads to salvation from afflictions and triumphing with the desired goal. This is because success does not result from mere remembrance. Some have interpreted "the remembrance of the favors" as "gratitude for them," and the order of consequence here is evident.