Tafsir of An-Nahl 16:15

{أن تميد بكم} Lest it should sway with you, meaning: lest it should tilt and shake with you. The mā’id (swayer) is one who becomes dizzy when riding the sea. It is said: When God created the earth, it began to fluctuate. The angels said, "It will not be stable for anyone upon its back." By morning, it had been anchored with mountains, and the angels did not know from what it had been created.

{وأنهارا} And He placed rivers in it. The verb {ألقى} (He cast/placed) carries the meaning of "He made." Do you not see His saying: {Have We not made the earth a resting place, and the mountains as stakes?} (An-Naba’: 6-7).

{وعلامات} These are landmarks for paths and everything by which travelers are guided, such as mountains, watering places, and the like.

{وبالنجم هم يهتدون} The term "the star" here refers to the genus (the stars in general), similar to your saying, "The dirham (money) has become abundant in the hands of the people." Al-Suddi said: It refers to the Pleiades, the two Farqadān (Ursa Minor), the Daughters of the Bier (Ursa Major), and the North Star. Al-Ḥasan read it as nuǧum (with two dammahs) and nuǧm (with a dammah and a sukun); it is the plural of najm, like ruhun and ruhn, where the sukun is for lightening the pronunciation. It is also said that the omission of the wāw from nuǧūm is for the sake of brevity.

If you ask: "His saying {And by the stars they are guided} deviates from the standard pattern of address, as 'the stars' is brought forward and 'they' is inserted, as if to say: 'And by the stars, specifically, these people, specifically, are guided.' Who is meant by 'they'?"

I say: He intended the Quraysh. They used to have guidance by the stars in their travels, and they possessed a knowledge of them that others did not have. Therefore, gratitude was more incumbent upon them, and taking heed was more binding upon them, so they were singled out.

{أفمن يخلق كمن لا يخلق أفلا تذكرون} Is He who creates like him who does not create? Will you not then take heed?