Surah Saba 34:1-11 - Quran Translation Commentary

(34:1) IN THE NAME OF ALLAH, THE KIND, THE COMPASSIONATE.All praise is for Allah to whom belongs whatsoever is in the heavens and whatsoever is in the earth. His is the praise in the Hereafter, and He is the All-wise, the All-aware.

(34:2) He knows that which goes into the earth and that which comes forth from it, that which descends from the heaven and that which ascends to it.² He indeed is the All-merciful, the All-forgiving.

(34:3) But said those who disbelieved, 'The Hour will never come upon us.' Say, 'Yes indeed, by my Lord, it shall surely come upon you – (brought by the) Knower of the Unseen – not absent³ from Him is an atom's weight⁴ in the heavens nor in the earth, neither smaller than that nor greater, but it is in a clear Record.⁵

(34:4) That He may reward those who believed and worked righteousness. Those - for them is forgiveness and a generous provision.

(34:5) As for those who strove in Our signs, to frustrate (Us), those, for them shall be a painful chastisement of a foul nature.⁶

(34:6) On the other hand,⁷ those who have been given the knowledge see that what has been sent down to you by your Lord is the truth, and guides to the path of the All-mighty, the All-laudable.⁸

(34:7) But said those who disbelieved, 'Shall we point you to a man⁹ who will inform you that when you are torn to complete tearing, you will surely be (raised) in a new creation?¹⁰

(34:8) What! Is he fastening a lie against Allah, or is there in him madness?' Nay! But those who believe not in the Hereafter are in chastisement and in a far stretched error.¹¹

(34:9) Have they not considered what lies before them and what lies behind them of the heaven and the earth?¹² If We wished We could make the earth swallow them, or cause a fragment of the heaven crash upon them.¹³ Surely, in that is a sign for every slave who turns (to Allah) repentant.¹⁴

(34:10) We definitely bestowed a bounty on Da'ud from Us:¹⁵ 'O you mountains, sing praises with him,¹⁶ and O birds (you too).'¹⁷ And We softened for him the iron.¹⁸

(34:11) That, 'You fashion wide coats of mail,¹⁹ and measure well the links.²⁰ And do you all act righteously,²¹ for indeed I am, of what you do, seeing.'

Commentary

2. That is, what goes into the earth of the seeds or the dead, what comes out of it of the vegetation, or living beings; what comes down from the heaven of Allah's mercy, such as rains, or angels, or the Revelation, and what ascends into it of the good word as mentioned in 35: 10):

إِلَيْهِ يَصْعَدُ الْكَلِمُ الطَّيِّبُ

"To Him rises the good word", or the souls, or good deeds (that rise up) could all have been alluded to (Razi, Qurtubi and others in parts). Asad puts it in contemporary terms, “This definition comprises things physical and spiritual: waters disappearing underground and reappearing; the metamorphosis of seed into plant, and of decaying plant into oil and coal; traces of old artefacts and entire civilizations buried in the earth and then reappearing within the sight and consciousness of later generations of men; the transformation of dead bodies of animals and men into elements of nourishment for new life; the ascent of earthly vapours towards the skies, and their descent as rain, snow or hail; the ascent towards the heaven of men’s longings, hopes and ambitions, and the descent of divine inspiration into the minds of men, and thus a revival of faith and thought and, with it, the growth of new artefacts, new skills and new hopes: in short, the endless recurrence of birth, death and re-birth which characterises all of God’s creation.”

3. This is how Ibn `Abbas, Mujhahid, and Qatadah understood the word "ya`zubu" of the text – as in Ibn Jarir; reflecting Allah's Quality: the Shaheed (Au.).

4. As noted earlier, "dharrah" alludes to a very small ant, or the speck of dust that is visible when a ray of light penetrates a dark room. Adoption of its modern meaning, atom, although correct, is actually more for reasons of sound than sense (Au.).

5. That is, the "Lawh al-Mahfooz" (Alusi).

6. Asad writes: “The particle min (lit., “out of”) which precedes the noun rijz (“vileness” or “vile conduct”) indicates that the suffering which awaits such sinners in the life to come is an organic consequence of their deliberately evil conduct in this world.”

7. In its brevity, the Qur'an uses "waaw" to express, apart from its standard meanings of "and," "while," "but," "yet," “although,” etc., several other meanings, such as, "for," "further," "moreover," "to be sure," etc. At this point, "on the other hand" seems to fit quite well (Au.).

8. Sayyid comments on” And guides to the path of the All-mighty, the All-laudable: "The path of the All-mighty, the All-laudable is that path which He has approved for His creation, and has chosen it for the humans so that their footsteps may match with the footsteps of the material world in which they live. The path is none other than the system which rules over all that is there in the universe including human life. Human life then, cannot sever its relationship with the universe which provides it with the basis of existence as well as the system that governs its continuation. “(It) guides on to the ‘path of the All-mighty, the All-laudable,’ by creating in the hearts of a believer clear perceptions with regard to his own existence, his relationships (with the world around him), and the laws (that govern the world). It tells him about his place in it, his role, and the nature of relationship between its various parts, in their joint effort towards the realization of Allah's will, and His wisdom in their creation; and towards the realization of the harmony between various elements as the whole journeys to its ultimate destination. "(It) guides to the ‘path of the All-mighty, the All-laudable,’ by correcting man’s modes and manners of thought, placing them on a sound footing; those that agree with the created world on the one side, and with his own natural instincts on the other. It helps the human beings to understand well the laws that govern the world, how they could be made use of, and how to respond to its demands without clashing with it, or running into a conflict with it. "(It) guides to the ‘path of the All-mighty, the All-laudable,’ with the help of its own methods of training which prepare an individual to conform with the society, and prepare the society to conform with the individual, thus creating a harmony which extends to all the creations that inhabit the globe. But more, it prepares all the creations to fall in harmony with the nature of the universe in which they live. And all this is achieved with extreme ease and comfort. (It) guides to the ‘path of the All-mighty, the All-laudable,’ – a guidance that consists of a system of laws which is in accord with human nature, his circumstances of life, and its economics, in harmony with the laws of the universe that govern the rest of the creations. In the process, man does not break away from them with his own organizations and laws. He is after all, only one of the many communities that inhabit this world."

9. Qurtubi draws our attention to the derision hidden in alluding to a prominent figure of Makkah in words, "Shall we point you to a man.." (as if he was just any man, unworthy of any term better than this: Au.)

10. The pagans contemporary to the Prophet (saws) could be pardoned for thinking that Allah (swt) will resurrect after, "you are torn to complete tearing." But many Muslims contemporary to us fail to notice that the promise, as in the Qur'an and prophetic traditions, is not about recreation after a complete tearing resulting in disintegration of the body into bits and pieces. But rather, the promise involves an earth that will be completely destroyed, leaving no trace on it of any traces of biological life whatsoever: no bones, no fossils, no living forms, however slight, on the surface or buried deep inside with its life arrested by Time. The earth will undergo such massive geological and physical changes as will juggle together its every single atom, to leave mountains moving like clouds and the waters – a source of life – on fire. When the present sun will be gone, the stars will disappear and a new universe brought into existence governed by entirely new set of laws. It is from that "new" situation, when the earth will be held in one hand, and the universe folded around another, that Allah will "resurrect the dead" from atoms (Au.).

11. Asad thinks that this is in reference to the tortuous life of those who reject Allah’s call. However, since, not all such societies 'definitely' suffer such consequences as alluded to in the verse, we may take his following, but brilliant note as a point for further brooding. He writes: “The construction of this phrase (fi al-`adhaabi wa dalaalim ba`aeed: Au.) points definitely to suffering in this world (in contrast with the suffering in the hereafter spoken of in verse 5 above): for whereas the concept of “aberration” (Asad’s rendering of “dalaal”) is meaningless in the context of the life to come, it has an obvious meaning in the context of moral and social confusion – and, hence, of the individual and social suffering – which is the unavoidable consequence of people’s loss of belief in the existence of absolute moral values and, thus, in an ultimate divine judgment on the basis of values.”

12. If reference to the words, "what lies behind them of the heaven and the earth," Qatadah has remarked that the justification is that wherever you look, (not only to the left or right, or front), but also at the rear, you see the earth and the heaven (Ibn Jarir, Ibn Kathir). In other words, there is no madness in the Messenger of truth, but it could be in those who are surrounded by signs all around them, that they find it impossible to escape from, but cling to illogical notions (Au.). Asad again, “.. how can anyone be so presumptuous as to deny the reality of resurrection and life after death, seeing that it is a phenomenon beyond man’s experience, while, on the other hand, everything within the universe points to God’s unlimited creative power.”

13. “This allusion is to unpredictable geological and cosmic occurrences – earthquakes, the fall of meteors and meteorites, cosmic rays, and so forth..” (Asad).

14. That is, signs that are a personal gift of Allah to a slave of His, for, they are not visible, although they surround the humankind, except to those who establish a Master-slave relationship with Him. On the other hand, if they decide that they can "work out things" all by themselves, "including the discovery of signs - if there are any," to them, the challenge is: do it if you can. The key to discovery of higher truths is bondage to the slavery of the Creator (Au.).

15. So, there is no limit to bestowal of signs upon those who turn to Him. Da'ud (asws) was one of them. He was an "oft-turning" person to Allah (28: 34). So He conferred upon him such signs and miracles as no one will ever achieve by himself: iron was made wax for him (as a material gift) and, hearts of mountains and birds were softened for him (as spiritual gift), so that when he sang his Lord's praises they joined him in chorus in a language and voice that he could understand and derive ecstatic pleasure from (Au.). Majid comments: “This may also refer to the greatness of David as a king. After the death and defeat of Saul at the hands of the formidable Philistines, ‘Israel rallied to David as the one possible saviour, though the succession was disputed by a rival faction; and under David’s leadership the supremacy of Hebrew kingdom was decisively established, the Philistine power was shattered and the hostile tribes were forced to become David’s tributaries.’ (UHW. I. p.447).” Mawdudi adds: “This is an allusion to the countless favours with which Allah had blessed the Prophet David (asws). He was an ordinary young man of the tribe of Judah, living in Bethlehem. In a campaign against the Phillistines he slew the giant Goliath. This increased his esteem among the Israelites, and ultimately he was made a king over the whole of Israel, having first been made a ruler over Hebron. He took Jerusalem and made it the capital of his kingdom whose boundaries extended between the Gulf of `Aqabah in the east and river Euphrates in the west. In addition, he was divinely bestowed with knowledge and wisdom.”

16. "Sing praises": This is how Ibn `Abbas, Abu `Abd al-Rahman, Abu Maysarah, Mujahid, Dahhak and others understood the textual "awwibi" (Ibn Jarir).

17. It is reported that Da'ud's beautiful recitation of the Zabur created such effects that the mountains, birds and other animals sang along with him. In Sayyid's words, "It seems Da'ud had attained such high quality of Praises for his Lord that the veils between him and Allah's other creations stood removed. They all sang in a chorus with him. This was the special blessing that was bestowed upon him." The Prophet (saws) said about Abu Musa al-Ash`ari's recitation as he heard him recite the Qur'an one night,

أُعْطِيَ مِزْمَاراً مِنْ مَزَامِيرِ آلِ دَاوُد"َ"

"Indeed he has been given a musical voice that was given to Da'ud's folks" (Bukhari and Muslim: Ibn Kathir). The above implies that the skill went down the line.

18. The allusion is not allegorical, but real, to a miracle. It was not melting of the metal for ease of moulding but rather softening of it in his hands, so that he bent it to the shape of his desire with ease – yet another of the special blessings bestowed on Da'ud (Sayyid). It is said that making armour was Da'ud's means of sustenance also (Ibn Kathir).

19. The apparent meaning is efficient design and skilled manufacture of the armour. But Imam Razi thinks that the directive is not to spend time on the manufacture of the armour beyond an acceptable limit of time and quantity. In different words, "qaddir" is for spending just the right time and efforts. The rest of the time should be devoted to the counsel that follows: "And do you all act righteously."

20. It is said that it was Da'ud who first made chained armours. Earlier, it were shields (made from beaten sheets of iron) that were in use (but they were heavy: Au.) - Ibn Jarir, Ibn Kathir.

21. Either the whole family has been addressed, or perhaps the plural form has been adopted for reverence (Alusi).