Taberî reports that the generality in the expression 'kullün lehû kânitûn' (all are obedient to Him) conveys that everything in the heavens and on earth submits and bows to Allah in obedience and acknowledgment. Among exegetes, different views are transmitted regarding whether this refers to obedience in specific matters such as life, death, and resurrection, or acknowledgment of His lordship, or obedience specific only to believing servants and angels. Taberî states his own preference, indicating that the word kanut means 'obedience and acknowledgment of servitude to Allah', and he connects this to the context of the verse, namely the refutation of Christians counting Jesus as the son of Allah; because every being in the heavens and on earth, through the created works upon them, points to Allah's oneness and creatorship, and thus is obedient to Him.

وأولى معاني القنوت في قوله: الطاعة والإقرار لله عز وجل بالعبودية بشهادة أجسامهم بما فيها من آثار الصنعة، والدلالة على وحدانية الله عز وجل، وأن الله تعالى ذكره بارئها وخالقها.

According to this exegete, the expression in the verse points to the virtue of night worship and its superiority over daytime worship. The reasons for this are: night worship is hidden from the eyes and thus further removed from ostentation, darkness and sleep empty the heart from external preoccupations and turn it toward knowing Allah and serving Him, and since night is the time for sleep, abstaining from it is more burdensome and its reward is greater.

وفي هذه اللفظة تنبيه على فضل قيام الليل وأنه أرجح من قيام النهار ، ويؤكده وجوه الأول : أن عبادة الليل أستر عن العيون فتكون أبعد عن الرياء

According to Kurtubî, this verse is a refutation of Christians counting the Messiah as Allah's child, Jews counting Ezra as Allah's child, and pagan Arabs counting angels as Allah's children. Since adoption only occurs among those of the same kind, it is impossible for the Truth, to whom nothing is similar, to adopt a child from His creation; moreover, sonship contradicts servitude and createdness, because every being in the heavens and on earth will come to the Most Merciful as a servant.

لا يكون الولد إلا من جنس الوالد فكيف يكون للحق سبحانه أن يتخذ ولدا من مخلوقاته وهو لا يشبهه شيء وقد قال إن كل من في السماوات والأرض إلا آتي الرحمن عبدا مريم كما قال هنا بل له ما في السماوات والأرض فالولدية تقتضي الجنسية والحدوث والقدم يقتضي الوحدانية والثبوت

Ibn Kathir lists various views transmitted from exegetes regarding the meaning of kunût in the expression 'kulle lehû kânitûn'; among these are meanings such as obedience, submission (in the context of the shadow's prostration, the involuntary obedience shown by the disbeliever), prayer, sincerity, and standing on the Day of Judgment. The interpretation that unites all these views, as the choice of Ibn Jarir, is this: kunût is obedience to Allah, presence of heart, and submission; this encompasses all creatures whether willingly or by force (willingly and unwillingly).

وهو ان القنوت والطاعة والإستكانة إلى الله وهو شرعي وقد روى كما قال تعالى أي خاضعون خاشعون طوعا وكرها

This passage explains that the related verse is situated in connection with Allah's name or attribute, and that the beings in the heavens and on earth (sun, moon, stars, clouds, etc.) glorify Him. The text also mentions a hadith transmitted from the Prophet, indicating the virtue of reciting one of the Ha-Mim chapters (Al-Jathiyah).

من قرأ حم الجاثية ستر الله عورته وسكن روعته يوم الحساب

According to Baydhawi, this verse was revealed concerning Jews counting Ezra as Allah's child, Christians counting the Messiah as Allah's child, and polytheists counting angels as Allah's children. The verse refutes these claims by indicating that everything in the heavens and on earth is Allah's dominion and beings submitting to Him; for while there is required a unity of gender/kind (mucanese) between the thing counted as a child and its father, there is no such unity between created things and the Necessarily Existent, and therefore He cannot have a child. Furthermore, jurists have used this verse as evidence that when a person owns their own child, that child will be freed, because Allah has negated sonship while affirming ownership, which requires the contradiction of these two with each other.

لأن من حق الولد أن يجانس والده