Surah Saba 34:37-45 - Quran Translation Commentary

(34:37) And, neither your wealth nor your progeny are the things that will bring you nigh to Us in nearness;⁶⁵ except for he who believed, did righteous deeds⁶⁶ – they it is, for whom is double the reward⁶⁷ for that they did – and they shall be in lofty chambers, in peace.⁶⁸

(34:38) As for those who strove in Our signs, (trying to) frustrate (Us), those shall be brought into chastisement.

(34:39) Say, 'Indeed, my Lord extends the provision unto whom He will of His slaves and restricts (it) for him.⁶⁹ And, whatever thing you expend, He will replace it.⁷⁰ He is the best of providers.'⁷¹

(34:40) And, the day He gathers them together and then say to the angels, 'Was it you that these were worshipping?⁷²

(34:41) They will reply, 'Glory to You. You are our Protector apart from them. Nay rather, they were worshipping the Jinn.⁷³ Most of them were believers in them.'

(34:42) This day then, no power do some of you hold of benefit or harm to others. And We shall say to those who wronged, 'Taste the chastisement of the Fire that you used to cry lies to.'

(34:43) And when Our verses are read out to them as clear evidences, they say, 'This is not but a man who wishes to avert you from what your forefathers worshipped.' And they said, 'This is not, but a forged lie.' And said those who disbelieved of the Truth when it came to them, 'This is (nothing) but clear magic.'⁷⁴

(34:44) And We have not given them any Books to study; nor did We send them before you any warner.⁷⁵

(34:45) Those that preceded them (also) cried lies, yet they did not attain a tenth of what We gave them.⁷⁶ But they cried lies to My Messengers. (See) then, how was My repudiation!

Commentary

65. How could wealth and children be thought of as the means for attaining closeness to Allah, asks Razi, when in actual fact, they engage a man in "other than Allah?" But rather, writes Ibn Kathir, the parameters are different. A hadith of Musnad, Muslim, and Ibn Majah (narrated by Abu Hurayrah in Muslim) explains what it is:

"إِنّ اللّهَ لاَ يَنْظُرُ إِلَى أَجْسَادِكُمُ وَلاَ إِلَىَ صُوَرِكُمْ. وَلَكِنْ يَنْظُرُ إِلَىَ قُلُوبِكُمْ" (مسلم)

"Verily, Allah does not look at your bodies nor at your faces, but rather looks at your hearts."

66. Another possible interpretation, expressed by Zamakhshari is that, it is not any wealth and any children that take one nearer to Allah, but rather, it is that wealth which is freely spent in the way of Allah, and those children that are brought up on Islam, taught knowledge, and trained to obey, that help achieve the objective of nearness to Allah. In short, none draws any advantage from wealth and children but the pious. The Prophet advised `Amr b. al-`Aas in words,

"يا عمرو نعما بالمال الصالح للمرء الصالح". (قال الهيثمي: ورجال أحمد وأبي يعلى رجال الصحيح).‏

"O `Amr, a blessing is that wealth which is (in the hands of) a righteous person" (Au.).

67. "Double the reward" is an inaccurate translation adopted for want of a better alternative. Otherwise, this grammatical construction, as pointed out by Zamakhshari, lends the meaning of "double, and double, and double .. the rewards," another way of saying, "many fold rewards." While agreeing with the above, Qurtubi offers other possibilities but yielding near about the same meaning.

68. These chambers will be made of pearls, diamonds, and other precious stones (Qurtubi). We have a hadith in Ibn Abi Hatim which sheds some light on what these chambers are. `Ali reported the Prophet (a tradition whose authenticity could not be traced: Au.),

عن علي رضي اللّه عنه قال، قال رسول اللّه صلى اللّه عليه وسلم: "إن في الجنة لغرفاً ترى ظهورها من بطونها وبطونها من ظهورها" فقال أعرابي: لمن هي؟ قال صلى اللّه عليه وسلم: "لمن طيّب الكلام، وأطعم الطعام، وأدام الصيام، وصلى بالليل والناس نيام" (أخرجه ابن أبي حاتم).

"In Paradise there are chambers whose inside will be visible from outside and the outside from inside." A bedouin asked, "Whom are they meant for?" He answered, "For him who spoke good words, fed the food, fasted a lot, and prayed at night while people slept" (Ibn Kathir). Although we are not sure the above is allusion to glass palaces, one might remind that despite great advances in glass technology, at its zenith but in a stalled situation since a decade or two, villas, far from palaces, could not be constructed entirely out of glass. At best, huge buildings can be clad from the outside with glass, (which in most cases have to be, by necessity, reflective, allowing view from any one side alone), but with all inner structure and divisions from concrete, steel, wood and aluminum. To the question, what are the possibilities of mankind ever constructing buildings entirely from glass, the answer from someone who is in the business of architectural glass and aluminum, and has the latest technology at his service, is that it is zero.

69. As Allah said elsewhere (17: 21),

انظُرْ كَيْفَ فَضَّلْنَا بَعْضَهُمْ عَلَى بَعْضٍ وَلَلآخِرَةُ أَكْبَرُ دَرَجَاتٍ وَأَكْبَرُ تَفْضِيلاً (الإسراء – 21)

"See then how We give preference to some over others. But surely, the Hereafter is greater in rank and greater in excellence." In other words, just like there are grades and ranks in this world, there are grades and ranks in the Hereafter: some will be in "lofty chambers, in peace," while others at the bottom-most part of Hell. And, the best of the people in this world is, as a hadith of Muslim, conveyed to us by `Abdullah b. `Amr b. al-`Aas says,

"قَدْ أَفْلَحَ مَنْ أَسْلَمَ، وَرُزِقَ كَفَافاً، وَقَنّعَهُ اللّهُ بِمَا آتَاهُ". (مسلم)

"Succeeded he who became a Muslim, was given just enough (for survival) and then Allah granted him contentment over what He gave him" (Ibn Kathir).

70. That is, the rewards of whatever you spend are brought back to you – both in this world as well as in the Next. As for this-worldly reward, it can either be in material terms, or in terms of contentment, which is a treasure that never empties. Nevertheless, one might not throw away all he has in charity. Mujahid is reported to have said that if someone has what supports his life, then, let him take the middle-path, for provision has been divided (in a certain measure). What he has been given might be little, out of which he might spend as if he has been given a lot, to suffer poverty in the end (Zamakhshari). The Problem however, is not that of generosity, but of miserliness. Hence Razi, Qurtubi and Ibn Kathir cite Prophetic traditions that encourage spending. One of them (as preserved by Bukhari, Muslim and Ahmad: H. Ibrahim) says (in words as in Muslim),

عَنْ أَبِي هُرَيْرَةَ قَالَ: قَالَ رَسُولُ اللّهِ صلى الله عليه وسلم: "مَا مِنْ يَوْمٍ يُصْبِحُ الْعِبَادُ فِيهِ، إِلاّ مَلَكَانِ يَنْزِلاَنِ. فَيَقُولُ أَحَدُهُمَا: اللّهُمّ أَعْطِ مُنْفِقاً خَلَفاً. وَيَقُولُ الاَخَرُ: اللّهُمّ أَعْطِ مُمْسِكاً تَلَفاً". (الصحيحين)

Abu Hurayrah reports, "There is not a day in which slaves do their morning but two angels come down. One of them says, 'O Allah, grant compensation to him who spends;' and the other says, 'O Allah grant destruction to him who withholds.'" Qurtubi and Ibn Kathir cite another hadith: The Prophet has reported to us from Allah, as in a hadith (of Bukhari, Muslim, Ibn Majah and Ahmad: Hussain b. Ibrahim),

عَنْ أَبِي هُرَيْرَةَ يَبْلُغُ بِهِ النّبِيّ صلى الله عليه وسلم قَالَ: "قَالَ اللّهُ تَبَارَكَ وَتَعَالَى: يَا ابْنَ آدَمَ أَنْفِقْ أُنْفِقْ عَلَيْكَ". (الصحيحين)

Abu Hurayrah reports the Prophet, "Allah said, 'Son of Adam, spend, I shall spend on you.'" Qurtubi offers a trustworthy hadith on the topic taking it from Daraqutni,

غن جابر (بن عبدالله) عن رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم أنه قال: "كل معروف صدقة. وما أنفق الرجل على نفسه و أهله كتبت له صدقة وما وقى به عرضه فهو صدقة و ما أنفق الرجل من نفقة فعلى الله خلفها إلا ما كان من نفقة في بنيان أومعصية". قال عبد الحميد قلت لإبن المنكدر: "وما وقى به الرجل عرضه"؟. قال: يعطي الشاعر وذا اللسان.

Jabir reports that the Prophet said, "Every good deed is a charity. And what a man spends on himself and his family, it is recorded as charity including what he spends in defense of his honor, which is also charity for him. And whatever a man spends, it is for Allah to bring back, except for what he spent on a building or in a sin." Jabir was asked about what was meant by "what he spends in defense of his honor?" He replied, "(For example) he gives to a poet, or someone with a loose tongue." Other reports however, adds Qurtubi, explain that the amount one spends on a house which is essential for him, will be compensated for. Ibn Kathir adds: Once the Prophet (saws) told Bilal,

"أنفق يا بلالُ ولا تخش من ذي العرش إقلالاً".

"Spend O Bilal, and do not fear from the Possessor of the `Arsh diminution." (The report was collected by Tabarani. Haythami however declared a narrator weak: Au.). According to another tradition reported by Hudhayfah and found in Ibn Abi Hatim and Hafiz Abu Ya`laa's collections, the Prophet said,

ألا إن بعد زمانكم هذا زمانا عضوضا يعض الموسر على ما في يده حذار الإنفاق، وقد قال الله تعالى: {وما أنفقتم من شيء فهو يخلفه} وسيد شرار الخلق يبايعون كل مضطر، ألا إن بيع المضطرين حرام، المسلم أخو المسلم، لا يظلمه، ولا يخذله، إن كان عندك معروف فعد به على أخيك، ولا تزده هلاكا إلا هلاكه.

"Lo, after this will be biting times when the affluent one will hold with his teeth (what he has) in fear of expenditure while Allah has said, 'And, whatever thing you expend, He will replace it.' And, the worst of the evil ones from among the creation will trade with the most desperate person. Remember, trading with the desperate ones is unlawful. A Muslim is a brother unto another Muslim. He does not wrong him, and does not humiliate him. If you happen to posses a good thing, take it to your brother, but do not (on the contrary) augment destruction upon his (present) destruction." The hadith however, adds Ibn Kathir, is weak. (But the prediction has come true: Au.).

71. The best of provisions is that, writes Razi, which (a) is not delayed beyond the time of need, (b) is not lesser than the exact requirement, and (c) does not entail reckoning. Further, the use of the term "providers" in the plural – while there is only one provider, Allah – is purely allegorical, like saying, "Allah comes down," or, "Allah is with the slaves," etc. At best the term "providers" has been employed to reflect on the various means that Allah (swt) adopts to provide His creations.

72. If we consider the fact that since angels are the means that Allah employs, worship of angels could imply worship of the material means so powerfully prevalent in our times (Au.). In any case, as pointed out by Qurtubi, there was a clan – Banu Mulayh belonging to the Khuza`ah tribe – which worshipped the Jinn, claiming that they could see them and that they were angels, Allah's own daughters.

73. It is the Shayaatin who used to beautify for them the worship of other than Allah (Ibn Kathir).

74. Yusuf Ali's commentary on the verse runs as follows: "Apart from the worship of Evil in the guise of the Powers of Light, there is another form of false worship, which depends on ancestral tradition. "Why," it is said, "should we not do as our fathers did?" They reject a new prophet of Truth simply because his teaching does not agree with the ways of their ancestors. The answer to this is given in verse 44 below. But meanwhile the rejecters' objection to new Truth is stated in three forms: (1) our ancestors knew nothing of this; (2) the story of inspiration is false; it is merely an invention; we do not believe in inspiration; (3) when in some particular points, the new Truth does work wonders in men's hearts, they account for it by saying it is magic. 'The third objection is merely traditional. What is magic? If it was merely deception, surely the Truth has proved itself to be above deception. The second objection is answered by the fact that the Messenger who comes with new spiritual Truth is acknowledged to be truthful in other relations of life: why should he be false where his preaching brings him no gain but much sorrow and persecution?"

75. That is, among the Quraysh. In fact, no Messenger had been raised among the Arabs in general, in recent memory. Isma`il’s ministry was an ancient affair (Au). And, therefore, they should have been especially grateful to Allah, who did not deny them what others were blessed with, namely Jews and Christians, by sending this Messenger. On that account they ought to have made the best use of the Messenger raised among them, and of the Book that he brought (Mufti Shafi`).

76. The opinion attributed to Ibn `Abbas, Qatadah, (also Suddi and Ibn Zayd: Ibn Kathir) is that the Makkans were not given a tenth of the power, material wealth, and the length of life that the earlier unbelievers were given. Yet consider, how was their end!? (Ibn Jarir). This is in the same vein, writes Ibn Kathir, as another verse which says (46: 26),

وَلَقَدْ مَكَّنَّاهُمْ فِيمَا إِن مَّكَّنَّاكُمْ فِيهِ وَجَعَلْنَا لَهُمْ سَمْعًا وَأَبْصَارًا وَأَفْئِدَةً فَمَا أَغْنَى عَنْهُمْ سَمْعُهُمْ وَلَا أَبْصَارُهُمْ وَلَا أَفْئِدَتُهُم مِّن شَيْءٍ إِذْ كَانُوا يَجْحَدُونَ بِآيَاتِ اللَّهِ وَحَاقَ بِهِم مَّا كَانُوا بِهِ يَسْتَهْزِئُون (الأحقاف – 26)

"Surely, We had firmly established them with that wherewith We have not established you therewith. And We had assigned them hearing, sights and hearts; but availed them not their hearing, sights, nor the hearts aught, because they were denying Allah's signs; and (consequently), that (very thing) surrounded them which they were mocking." To Imam Razi, another connotation is possible. To paraphrase, "And laid the lie those who were before the Quraysh, while they, the earlier ones, did not attain a tenth of what these, the Quraysh, have attained" where, the allusion is to the excellence in language they possessed and signs of the Prophet's veracity that the Quraysh were shown. In short, the earlier ones did not receive a tenth of the evidences that the Quraysh have, yet, they suffered destruction for their disbelief; so, what about these?