Al-Infitar: (8) In whatever form...

"In whatever form He willed, He assembled you." That is, He assembled you and placed you in whatever form His will—Exalted is He—and His wisdom—Majestic and Supreme—demanded, out of the various forms regarding height, shortness, degrees of beauty, and the like. Therefore, the prepositional phrase is connected to rakkaba-ka (He assembled you), and ayyun (which/whatever) is for qualification, similar to its usage in the verse: "Have you seen...?"

"Which sideburns and cheeks have appeared to us between Al-Lay and Zarud."

Since generalization was intended, the described noun (mawsuf) was not mentioned. The sentence "He willed" is an adjective for it, with the returning pronoun ('a'id) being omitted, and ma is an augmentative particle. The reason the sentence was not conjoined to the one preceding it is that it serves as an explanation for "He balanced you." It is also permitted that the prepositional phrase be in the position of a state (hal), meaning: "He assembled you, existing in whatever form He willed."

It has been said that ayyun is a relative pronoun (mawsula), with the sentence "He willed it" as its conjunctive clause (silah), as if to say: "He assembled you in the form that He willed." The objection to this is that Abu Ali stated in al-Tadhkirah that the relative ayyun cannot be genitive-added (idafah) to an indefinite noun. Ibn Malik stated in the Alfiyyah: "Specifically restrict the relative ayyun to the definite." In Al-Suyuti’s commentary on it, he adds the condition mentioned previously—meaning the definite noun must not be singular—so do not add it to an indefinite noun, contrary to the view of Ibn 'Usfur.

It is permissible to make ayyun conditional (shartiyyah), and the past tense in its response is considered in the sense of the future if one considers the attachment of the will and the subsequent assembly. Thus, the word "form" was brought in the past tense regarding the will, while the conditional particle was used regarding what is attached to it and the sequence.

It is also permissible for the prepositional phrase to be connected to "He balanced you," in which case ayyun must be for qualification, as if to say: "He balanced you in a form, meaning in a wondrous form," then the described noun was omitted to increase emphasis and sense of wonder. This ayyun is transferred from interrogative usage, but because its meaning has entirely stripped away, what precedes it governs it.

"Whatever He willed, He assembled you" could be an independent sentence (musta'nafah). Ma could be a relative noun acting as the subject (mubtada') or as an absolute object (maf'ul mutlaq) for "He assembled you," meaning: "Whatever of assembly He willed, He assembled you in it," or "an assembly He willed, He assembled you [therewith]."

It is also permitted that it be conditional, with "willed" being the conditional verb and "assembled you" being its response, meaning: "If He willed your assembly in any form other than this form, He would have assembled you in it." In this interpretation, the conditional sentence is in the position of an adjective for "form," with the returning pronoun omitted. They did not permit the attachment of the prepositional phrase to "He assembled you" in this interpretation, because the dependent of ma within the scope of a condition cannot be placed before it.