68وَرَبُّكَ يَخلُقُ ما يَشاءُ وَيَختارُ ۗ ما كانَ لَهُمُ الخِيَرَةُ ۚ سُبحانَ اللَّهِ وَتَعالىٰ عَمّا يُشرِكونَMuhammad AsadAND [thus it is:] thy Sustainer creates whatever He wills; and He chooses [for mankind] whatever is best for them.1 Limitless is God in His glory, and sublimely exalted above anything to which they may ascribe a share in His divinity!Some of the classical commentators incline to interpret the ma in the phrase ma kana lahum al-khirah as a particle of negation and the noun khirah as "choice" or "freedom of choice", thus giving to this phrase the meaning of "He chooses, [but] they [i.e., human beings] have no freedom of choice". To my mind, however, this interpretation conflicts not only with the immediately preceding passages but with the tenor of the Qur'an as a whole, which insists throughout on man's responsibility for (and, hence, on relative freedom in) choosing between right and wrong - and this side by side with its stress on God's unlimited power to determine the factual course of events. Hence, I prefer to base my rendering on the interpretation advanced and convincingly argued by Tabari, who regards the crucial particle ma not as a negation but as a relative pronoun synonymous with alladhi ("that which" or "whatever"), and understands the noun khirah in its primary significance of "that which is chosen" or "preferred", i.e., because it is considered to be the best: in another word, as a synonym of khayr. Zamakhshari refers to this interpretation with evident approval (without, however, mentioning Tabari specifically), and enlarges upon it thus: "God chooses for mankind whatever is best (ma huwa khayr) and most beneficial (aslah) for them, for He knows better than they themselves do what is good for them."