Quran 67:1-2

Surah Al-Mulk. Verse 1-2.

﴿ تَبَـٰرَكَ ٱلَّذِى بِيَدِهِ ٱلۡمُلۡكُ وَهُوَ عَلَىٰ كُلِّ شَىۡءٍ۬ قَدِيرٌ • ٱلَّذِى خَلَقَ ٱلۡمَوۡتَ وَٱلۡحَيَوٰةَ لِيَبۡلُوَكُمۡ أَيُّكُمۡ أَحۡسَنُ عَمَلاً۬‌ۚ وَهُوَ ٱلۡعَزِيزُ ٱلۡغَفُورُ

(1. Blessed be He in Whose Hand is the dominion; and He is Able to do all things.) (2. Who has created death and life that He may test you which of you is best in deed. And He is the Almighty, the Oft-Forgiving;)

Glorification of Allah and mentioning the Creation of Death and Life.

Allah the Exalted glorifies His Noble Self and informs that the dominion is in His Hand. This means that He deals with all of His creatures however He wishes and there is none who can reverse His decree. He is not questioned concerning what He does because of His force, His wisdom and His justice. For this reason Allah says,

﴿ وَهُوَ عَلَىٰ كُلِّ شَىۡءٍ۬ قَدِيرٌ ﴾

(and He is Able to do all things.) Then Allah says,

﴿ ٱلَّذِى خَلَقَ ٱلۡمَوۡتَ وَٱلۡحَيَوٰةَ ﴾

(Who has created death and life) Those who say that death is an existing creation use this Ayah as a proof because it is something that has been created. This Ayah means that He brought creation into existence from nothing in order to test the creatures. He examines them to see which of them will be best in deeds. This is similar to Allah's statement,

﴿ كَيۡفَ تَكۡفُرُونَ بِٱللَّهِ وَڪُنتُمۡ أَمۡوَٲتً۬ا فَأَحۡيَـٰڪُمۡ‌ۖ ﴾

(How can you disbelieve in Allah, seeing that you were dead and He gave you life.) (2:28) In this Ayah Allah named the first stage, which is non-existence, "death.'' Then he named the origin or beginning of existence, "life.'' This is why Allah says,

﴿ ثُمَّ يُمِيتُكُمۡ ثُمَّ يُحۡيِيكُمۡ ﴾

(Then He will give death, then again will bring you to life (on the Day of Resurrection)) (2:28). Concerning Allah's statement,

﴿ لِيَبۡلُوَكُمۡ أَيُّكُمۡ أَحۡسَنُ عَمَلاً۬‌ۚ ﴾

(He may test you which of you is best in deed.) it means best in deeds. This is as Muhammad bin `Ajlan said. It should be noted that Allah did not say "which of you does the most deeds.'' Allah then says,

﴿ وَهُوَ ٱلۡعَزِيزُ ٱلۡغَفُورُ ﴾

(And He is the Almighty, the Oft-Forgiving.) This means that He is the Almighty, the Most Great, the Most Powerful and the Most Honorable. However, along with this He is Most Forgiving to whoever turns to Him in repentance and seeks His pardon after having disobeyed Him and opposed His commandment. Even though Allah is Almighty, He also forgives, shows mercy, pardons and excuses.

Source: Tafsir Ibn Kathir