Tafsir of As-Saffat 37:164

{And there is not one of us except that he has a known station} The noun (the person) is omitted, and the adjective (the station) is placed in its stead, similar to the poet’s saying: “I am the son of Jala and the climber of the mountain passes; In my palm was the most accurate of men.”

{A known station}: A station in worship, where the limit of God’s command is restricted to him, and he does not exceed it. As it is narrated: "Among them is one who bows and does not straighten his back, and one who prostrates and does not lift his head."

{Indeed, we are the ones who stand in rows} We align our feet in prayer, or our wings in the air, awaiting what we are commanded. It is said: We align our wings around the Throne, praying for the believers. It is also said: Muslims have only stood in rows for prayer since this verse was revealed; no one from other religious communities stands in rows in their prayer except the Muslims.

{The ones who exalt [Allah]} Those who declare Him free of imperfection, or those who pray.

The Interpretation: The most sound view is that this, and what preceded it—from His saying: {Exalted is Allah above what they describe} (159)—is the speech of the angels. This connects to the mention of them in His saying: {And the jinn have certainly known} (158). It is as if it were said: The angels have known and testified that the polytheists have fabricated lies against them regarding their kinship with the Lord of Might. They said: "Exalted is Allah," declaring Him free of that, and they made an exception for the sincere servants of Allah, absolving them of it. They said to the disbelievers: "If that is true, then you and your deities cannot tempt anyone among His creation or lead them astray, except for those who are like you—those whom Allah knew would be disbelievers (not by His decree and will, but by their own choice)."

Exalted is Allah far above what the wrongdoers say, for they are the people of the Fire. How could we be kin to the Lord of Might, or share a single nature with Him? We are but humble servants before Him; each of us has a station of obedience from which he cannot deviate even by a fingernail, out of reverence for His greatness and humility before His majesty. We are the ones who align our feet for His worship and our wings, submissive, obedient, exalting, and glorifying Him, as is required of servants toward their Lord.

Another view: It is the speech of the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ), meaning: There is not one of the Muslims except that he has a known station on the Day of Resurrection according to his deeds, based on His saying: {Perhaps your Lord will raise you to a praised station} (79). Then He mentions their deeds: that they are the ones who stand in rows in prayer, exalting Allah and declaring Him free of what those who do not know Him attribute to Him—things that are not permissible for Him.

{And indeed, they used to say, "If we had a message from the former peoples, we would have been the sincere servants of Allah." But they disbelieved in it, so they are going to know.}