Surah Saba 34:22-30 - Quran Translation Commentary

22. Say : ⁵³ “Call those whom you consider (Lord) beside Allah. They possess no atom’s weight either in the heavens or the earth,⁵⁴ nor have they any share in either ,⁵⁵ nor has He any helpers among them.”

23. No intercession avails with Him except for him whom He permits.⁵⁶ When fear is banished from their heart, they will ask: “What was it that your Lord said?⁵⁷ “They will say:” The Truth.⁵⁸ He is the Sublime, the Great.’ ⁵⁹

24. Ask (them): “Who gives you provision from the sky and the earth?” Say: “Allah. Verily, we or you certainly are rightly guided or in evident error.⁶⁰”

25. Say : “You will not be accountable for what we committed, nor shall we be asked of what you did.⁶¹”

26. Say:”Our Lord will bring us all together, ⁶² then He will judge between us with truth.⁶³ He is the All-Knowing Judge.”

27. Say: “Show me those whom you have joined to Him as Partners. ⁶⁴ Nay (you dare not) : He is Allah, the Mighty, the Wise.⁶⁵”

28. And We have sent you (O Nabi !) but as a bringer of good tidings and a warner to all mankind but most men know not.⁶⁶

29. And they ask: “When will this promise be fulfilled, if you are truthful?” ⁶⁷

30. Say : “Your day is already fixed. You cannot hold it back for one hour, nor can you hasten it.” ⁶⁸

Commentary

53. From here the address is directed towards the polytheists, and in refutation of polytheism points appealing to the head and heart have been presented.

54. This is a repudiation of the belief of the polytheists that their gods have some divine powers. It is said that they do not have the slightest power, either in the heaven or on the earth. All power is with Allah. Then how can the powerless be worthy of worship? And what can be achieved by worshipping them?

In this ayah the negation of power to others than Allah does not only repudiate the belief of the idolaters but it also refutes the belief of the graveworshippers. They also believe that Qutb, Abdal, etc. are authorities having power and using them, and they interpret it by saying that these powers have been given to them by Allah only. But first of all it is a lie concerning Allah. for Allah has nowhere stated that He has given powers to such and such a person. Secondly the divine powers are not at all transferable, in the same way in which no part of Allah is transferable, otherwise polytheism will become a part of divine attributes. The powers given by Allah to the creatures are of the created nature, they are created by God, they are not parts of God’s own attributes. And meeting needs, listening to appeals for help relieving distress, etc, are connected with divine powers, because for that being present everywhere and watching, knowing everyone’s circumstances, understanding the language in which He might be invoked and understanding what is in his heart, and to be able to relieve him of his distress, are necessary. Therefore, the powers that are achieved by the slaves are of the nature of the created ones and are very limited, and they have no relation with meeting the needs and relieving distress of the creatures. Ignoring this difference quite a number of Muslims indulge in polytheism, and now such commentaries are being written which mislead the people about polytheism. The following excerpt may be seen:

“It is learnt that to be owner of something is not for the idols. But Prophets and saints are owner of every thing by the grant of the Lord.” -(Mukhtasar Tafseer Naeemi-p.687)

How misleading is this explanation. The ayah which denies power to others than Allah, the same is being quoted as a proof of prophets and saints having powers. that is the ayah which was for guidance, from that ayah misguidance has been - derived. May Allah save us from such misguidance.

55. That is: In creating the heavens and the earth, beings other than Allah had no part to play, then how did they get such powers in the universe and from where, the powers which are the exclusive attributes of Allah?

56. Refers to the angels whom the polytheists considered as the daughters of Allah and worshipped them, and they used to say they would intercede with Allah on their behalf. That is, if the Day of Resurrection really occurred, then they would intercede on their behalf and would save them from punishment. Declaring this Concept of intercession as false, it is clarified that the angels dare not intercede before Allah, let alone their being successfully achieving their goal. Intercession is a form of Allah’s forgiveness, and it will be only in the case of those persons whom Allah will permit, and this permission will not be in the case of polytheists and disbelievers, because for them the gate of forgiveness is closed.

For further explanation of intercession, please see Surah Maryam Note No.111, Surah Baqarah Note No.412, and Surah Anbia Note No.31.

57. This sentence is related to ‘except for him whom He permits. ‘That is: for those in whose favour permission of intercession will be given, for them this opportunity will come at one stage only on the Day of Judgment. Till the coming of this stage the candidates for intercession will be in great fright, and this fright will be removed when Allah will permit the angels and the prophets to intercede in their favour.

58. At that time they will ask their interceders: “What has your Lord said?” They will reply: “He spoke the Truth,” that is, He has permitted them to intercede, and this truth is based on justice. It means that He has permitted intercession in their case for the reason that they were neither polytheists nor disbelievers.

Here the purpose is to bring home to the people the correct position in connection with the intercession that:

First, the concept of intercession by the angels which the polytheists have nurtured is wrong and false.

Secondly on the Day of Judgment salvation will basically depend on faith and righteous acts, and intercession will be an exceptional case, which will be allowed only in the case of those who will not be polytheists or disbelievers, and in whose case Allah may permit some one to intercede.

Thirdly this permission will be given at a certain stage only. Till then the seekers of intercession will be in great fear, that is, till this stage arrives the long and hard day of Doomsday will be a period of great distress and anxiety for them. When man is not ready to tolerate trouble in the world for a short time then how does he become ready to tolerate the long lasting trouble and distress of the Doomsday? The right course is that instead of relying on intercession, man should live a life of faith and righteous acts.

Today Muslims also hold a wrong concept of intercession, and for this reason a very large number of Muslims has become righteously inactive. Had they pondered over these ayah from the Quran they would not have reached their present state of decline.

Some commentators have opine that the words When fear banished from their hearts refers to angels, that is when the fear banished from the angels’ hearts. If the reference was for angels ‘qulubihim’ would not have been used, the words ‘anfusihim’ would have been proper. Therefore, we have taken it to mean the fear of the seekers of the intercession, and the meaning of the ayah as stated appears to be appropriate - --------God knows best.

59. Allah is Sublime, Great, therefore, nobody has the power or authority to force Him to concede to their request of intercession.

60.That is: When you are also unable to deny that Allah provides livelihood, then what is the propriety of worshipping beings other than Allah? When we have made the Real Provider as our God, and you have made others your gods, who are not the providers of livelihood, then our paths separate. Therefore, now essentially either of us is on right guidance and the other is misguided. Now you decide for yourself, who is on right guidance and who is misguided.

The style of address adopted in this ayah is to invite the deniers to ponder over these facts.

61. In this ayah the deniers have been invited to think that they were accusing the people of faith of being guilty, and if they had really committed any guilt, they would have to answer for that themselves and not the deniers, and the deniers would be asked about their own acts and not the people of faith. Therefore, wisdom lies in taking a survey of one’s own acts whether they are the righteous acts before accusing others, and when on the Day of Judgment they would be asked to account for their acts, what would be their reply?

62. That is: On the Day of Resurrection.

63. On the Day of Judgment Allah will give judgment between the disbelievers and the people of faith on the basis of justice and truth, and He will also enforce this judgment as to who was on the side of truth and who was on the side of falsehood who was following the right religion and who was following the false religion.

64. This question also invites the polytheists to ponder as to what are those divine attributes on the basis of which they have others as their deities and partners with Allah and on the basis of which they worship them while worthy of worship is Allah alone.

65. Here is none beside Allah who has the attributes of superiority, power, knowledge, wisdom, therefore, those whom you have made your deities are neither gods nor worthy of worship.

66. This is the declaration of the Prophet’s (Sallal Lahu Alaihi Wa Sallam) universal prophethood, that he was not sent for Arabs only, but for all mankind, regardless of any community, creed, colour and country, and his message is for all the nations and people that will be born till the end of this world. Here the purpose is to clarify to the deniers that the personality whom they were bent to oppose is so grand that he is the guide and the spiritual leader for the entire world. If they do not appreciate such a highly honoured personage, then it is their own deprivation.

67. That is: When the promise about the Doomsday will be fulfilled.

68. That is: The time of the Doomsday is fixed. It will not occur an hour earlier than its appointed time nor an hour later. When the Day of Resurrection will occur all will be made to be present at the appointed place at the appointed time, not an hour earlier nor later.