Tafsir of An-Nahl 16:12

[Grammatical Analysis of the Verse] The entire sequence (the night, the day, the sun, the moon, and the stars) has been read in the accusative case (naṣb), implying: "And He has made the stars subjected." Alternatively, it implies that the meaning of "subjecting them for people" is making them beneficial to them:

• They find rest in the night.
• They seek His bounty in the day.
• They know the number of years and the calculation through the movement of the sun and the moon.
• They are guided by the stars.

It is as if it were said: "He benefited you through them while they are subjected to what they were created for by His command."

It is also permissible that the meaning is: "He subjected them through various types of subjection (taskhīrāt)." This is the plural of musakkhar (subjected), in the sense of taskhīr (the act of subjecting), similar to saying: "God subjected him, a subjection (musakkharan)," just as you say: "He released him, a release (musarraḥan)." It is as if it were said: "And He subjected them for you, [with] various subjections by His command."

[Variant Readings]

• It has been read with the accusative (naṣb) for "the night and the day" only, while what follows them is in the nominative (rafʿ) as an initial subject (mubtadaʾ) and predicate (khabar).
• It has been read as "and the stars are subjected" (wa-al-nujūmu musakkharāt) in the nominative, while what precedes it is in the accusative.

[Conclusion of the Verse] He said: "Indeed in that are signs for a people who reason," using the plural "signs." He mentioned "reason" because celestial phenomena are the clearest evidence of overwhelming power and the most manifest testimony to Majesty and Greatness.