Tafsir of Al-A'raf 7:74

(And remember when He made you successors after 'Ad)—that is, successors in the earth, or successors to them. It is said that the omission of "successors of 'Ad" despite mentioning them indicates that a long period of time elapsed between the two. (And He settled you)—that is, He caused you to dwell and provided you with a settlement (in the land)—that is, the land of Al-Hijr, between the Hijaz and the Levant. (Taking for yourselves from its plains, palaces)—meaning you build elevated dwellings in its plains. "From" (min) here carries the meaning of "in," similar to the Almighty’s saying: "When the call is made for prayer on (min) the day of Jumu'ah." It is also possible that it is used for initiation or partition, meaning you construct palaces from material taken from the plains, such as bricks or tiles made from clay. Regarding the prepositional phrase, Abu al-Baqa’ stated: it may be linked to an omitted term preceding what follows it, or it may be the second object of "taking," or it may be linked to the verb itself, assuming the verb takes only one object. The "plain" (sahl) is the opposite of the "rugged" (hazn), which is rocky or mountainous terrain. This sentence is an explanatory digression describing the manner of this settlement, for this act of taking [palaces] was made possible by His (Glory be to Him) power.

(And you carve out of the mountains, houses)—that is, you chisel them. Carving is well-known regarding anything solid, and its imperfect tense in the middle has a kasra on the ha. Al-Hasan read it with a fat-ha due to the guttural letter. It is narrated in the Qamus that he also read it as tanhatun with lengthening, like yanba'. The word "mountains" (al-jibal) is in the accusative case as the object. As for His (Glory be to Him) saying: (houses)—it is in the accusative as a state (hal) that is anticipated; for at the time of the carving, they were not yet houses, just as one says, "I sewed the cloth into a garment." Al-Shihab argued it could be a state of being if one considers it in the sense of "inhabited," provided one assumes derivation. It is also said that "mountains" is in the accusative due to the omission of the preposition, meaning "out of the mountains," and this is supported by the fact that it appears as such in another verse, with "houses" as the object. Others suggest that the word "carve" is intended to convey the meaning of "making/taking," in which case both are objects. It is narrated from Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) that they built palaces in the plains to spend their summers in, and carved houses out of the mountains to spend their winters in. Others say they carved the mountains into houses because of their long lives, as buildings would crumble before their lifespans reached an end.

(So remember the bounties of Allah)—that is, the favors He has bestowed upon you, from what has been mentioned or all of His favors, with the aforementioned being the primary inclusion. The intent is not merely verbal remembrance, as you have already learned. (And do not commit abuse in the land, spreading corruption)—for the right of His bounties (Glory be to Him) is that they be acknowledged with gratitude, not neglected; so how then can one justify disbelief and corruption? "Spreading corruption" is an emphatic state (hal), as in the phrase: "And they turned back, fleeing (mudbirin)."