وَلِلَّهِ يَسْجُدُ مَنْ فِي السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضِ طَوْعًا وَكَرْهًا وَظِلَالُهُمْ بِالْغُدُوِّ وَالْآصَالِ۩ ࣛ ﴿۱۵﴾ قُلْ مَنْ رَبُّ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضِ قُلِ اللَّهُ قُلْ أَفَاتَّخَذْتُمْ مِنْ دُونِهِ أَوْلِيَاءَ لَا يَمْلِكُونَ لِأَنْفُسِهِمْ نَفْعًا وَلَا ضَرًّا قُلْ هَلْ يَسْتَوِي الْأَعْمَى وَالْبَصِيرُ أَمْ هَلْ تَسْتَوِي الظُّلُمَاتُ وَالنُّورُ أَمْ جَعَلُوا لِلَّهِ شُرَكَاءَ خَلَقُوا كَخَلْقِهِ فَتَشَابَهَ الْخَلْقُ عَلَيْهِمْ قُلِ اللَّهُ خَالِقُ كُلِّ شَيْءٍ وَهُوَ الْوَاحِدُ الْقَهَّارُ ﴿۱۶﴾

﴾15﴿ Wa lillaahi yasjudu man fis samaawaati wal ardi taw 'anw wa karhanw wa zilaaluhum bilghuduwwi wal aasaal (make sajda)
﴾16﴿ Qul mar Rabbus samaawaati wal ard; qulillaah; qul afattakhaztum min dooniheee awliyaaa'a laa yamlikoona li anfusihim naf'anw wa laa darraa; qul hal yastawil a'maa wal baseeru am hal tastawiz zulumaatu wannoor; am ja'aloo lillaahi shurakaaa'a khalaqoo kakhalqihee fatashaa bahal khalqu 'alaihim; qulil laahu Khaaliqu kulli shai'inw wa Huwal Waahidul Qahhar

﴾15﴿ And to Allah alone prostrates whoever is in the heavens and the earth, willingly or unwillingly, and so do their shadows in the mornings and evenings
﴾16﴿ Say, Who is the Lord of the heavens and the earth Say, Allah. Say, Have you taken besides Allah allies who have no power to benefit or harm themselves, Say, Is the blind equal to the one who sees, Or are the darknesses equal to the light? Or have they attributed to Allah partners who created like His creation, so that the creation seemed similar to them, Say, Allah is the Creator of all things, and He is the One, the Prevailing

[15] From this verse up to verse 25 is the third section (باب سوم). In verse 15 lies the ninth rational argument, and in verse 16, the tenth rational argument appears, along with a warning against associating partners with Allah in His control (shirk fi al-tasarruf), along with two examples.
Then, in verse 17, the eleventh rational argument is presented, also with two examples.
From verse 18 to 24, there is a contrast between the polytheists and the monotheists, accompanied by a warning and a description of ten traits of the monotheists, along with glad tidings. In verse 25, three characteristics of the polytheists are mentioned, along with a threat.
In verse 15, the ninth rational argument is based on the mention of the prostration (sujood) of the entire universe. The meaning of sujood here is submission—to both the legislative (shar‘i) and cosmic (takweeni) command of Allah. Thus, the believers submit both voluntarily, while the disbelievers submit by force in the cosmic sense.
Or, the sujood could refer to actual physical prostration, where “those in the heavens” are the angels, and “those on earth” are the believers; and the phrase “karhan” (unwillingly) refers to those who are compelled to submit after being confronted with evidence and reasoning, leading them to prostrate sincerely for Allah.
Alternatively, “taw‘an wa karhan” (willingly and unwillingly) could refer to states of ease and hardship — meaning that in both states, they prostrate to Allah.
As for the phrase “in the mornings and the evenings (بِالْغُدُوِّ وَالْآصَالِ)”, in some regions during zenith (zawal), there is no shadow — hence it is not mentioned. Or it could be that “ghuduww” refers to the time before zenith, and “asal” refers to the time after zenith.
[16] In this passage, the tenth rational argument is presented, along with another warning to the polytheists and a refutation of associating partners with Allah in His control (shirk fi al-tasarruf). Two examples are also mentioned:
The first example compares a monotheist and a polytheist using the imagery of the blind and the seeing. The second example contrasts polytheism and monotheism using darkness and light.
Then, there is a further warning to the polytheists, reminding them that Allah alone is the Creator of all things, and that no one shares in creation with Him. So the question arises: Why do you associate partners with Him in worship?
“Say: Allah” (قُلِ اللَّهُ) — when the polytheists fell silent, because even they would not claim any lord other than Allah the Exalted, the Prophet (may Allah bless him and give him peace) was commanded to state the answer himself.
“Do you then take...?” (أَفَاتَّخَذْتُمْ) — after casting doubt on shirk in lordship (rububiyyah), a refutation of shirk in control (tasarruf) is made. This same theme appears in verse 3 of Surah Al-Furqan.
“Or have they assigned to Allah partners?” (أَمْ جَعَلُوا لِلَّهِ شُرَكَاءَ) — this is a rebuke of shirk in divinity (uluhiyyah) by denying the ability of anyone besides Allah to create. The structure of “Am khalaqoo” is rhetorical and expresses denial (istifham inkari).