Tafsir of Al-Qasas 28:68

"The choice" (al-khiyara) is derived from "to choose" (al-takhayyur), similar to "omen" (al-tira) from "taking an omen" (al-tatayyur). It is used to mean the verbal noun (the act of choosing), and it is used to mean the chosen one (al-mutakhayyar), as in their saying: "Muhammad is God’s choice (khiyarat) from His creation."

{What choice have they?} This is an explanation of His saying: {And He chooses}, because its meaning is: "And He chooses what He wills." For this reason, no conjunction was inserted. The meaning is: The choice belongs to God Almighty in His actions, and He is most knowing of the aspects of wisdom within them; no one among His creation has the right to choose over Him.

It is said: The reason for this is the statement of al-Walid ibn al-Mughira: {Why was this Quran not sent down upon a great man from the two cities?} (Az-Zukhruf: 31). Meaning: God does not send messengers based on the choice of those to whom they are sent.

It is also said: Its meaning is "And He chooses what is best for them," meaning: He chooses for the servants what is best and most beneficial for them, for He is more knowing of their interests than they are themselves. This is from their saying regarding two matters: "There is no choice (khiyara) in them for a chooser."

If you ask: Where is the referent (al-raji') from the relative clause back to the relative pronoun, if you consider "what" (ma) to be a relative pronoun? I say: The original phrasing is "What choice have they in it (fihi)," but "in it" was omitted, just as "from it" (minhu) was omitted in His saying: {Indeed, that is of the matters of determination} (Ash-Shura: 43), because it is understood.

{Exalted is God} meaning: God is free from their polytheism and the audacity toward God that drives them to choose against Him what He does not choose.

{And your Lord knows what their breasts conceal and what they declare. And He is God; there is no deity except Him. To Him is all praise in the first [life] and the Hereafter. And His is the judgment, and to Him you will be returned.}