Surah 34. Saba

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Verses [Section]: 1-11[1], 12-21 [2], 22-30 [3], 31-36 [4], 37-45 [5], 46-54 [6]

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Quran Text of Verse 46-54قُلْSayاِنَّمَاۤOnlyاَعِظُكُمْI advise youبِوَاحِدَةٍ ۚfor one (thing)اَنْthatتَقُوْمُوْاyou standلِلّٰهِfor Allahمَثْنٰی(in) pairsوَ فُرَادٰیand (as) individualsثُمَّthenتَتَفَكَّرُوْا ۫reflectمَاNotبِصَاحِبِكُمْ(is in) your companionمِّنْanyجِنَّةٍ ؕmadnessاِنْNotهُوَheاِلَّا(is) exceptنَذِیْرٌa warnerلَّكُمْfor youبَیْنَbeforeیَدَیْbeforeعَذَابٍa punishmentشَدِیْدٍ severe قُلْSayمَاNotسَاَلْتُكُمْI ask youمِّنْforاَجْرٍany paymentفَهُوَbut it (is)لَكُمْ ؕfor youاِنْNotاَجْرِیَ(is) my paymentاِلَّاbutعَلَیfromاللّٰهِ ۚAllahوَ هُوَAnd Heعَلٰی(is) overكُلِّallشَیْءٍthingsشَهِیْدٌ a Witness قُلْSayاِنَّIndeedرَبِّیْmy Lordیَقْذِفُprojectsبِالْحَقِّ ۚthe truthعَلَّامُ(the) All-Knowerالْغُیُوْبِ (of) the unseen 34. Saba Page 434قُلْSayجَآءَHas comeالْحَقُّthe truthوَ مَاand notیُبْدِئُ(can) originateالْبَاطِلُthe falsehoodوَ مَاand notیُعِیْدُ repeat قُلْSayاِنْIfضَلَلْتُI errفَاِنَّمَاۤthen onlyاَضِلُّI will errعَلٰیagainstنَفْسِیْ ۚmyselfوَ اِنِBut ifاهْتَدَیْتُI am guidedفَبِمَاthen it is by whatیُوْحِیْۤrevealsاِلَیَّto meرَبِّیْ ؕmy LordاِنَّهٗIndeed Heسَمِیْعٌ(is) All-Hearerقَرِیْبٌ Ever-Near وَ لَوْAnd ifتَرٰۤیyou (could) seeاِذْwhenفَزِعُوْاthey will be terrifiedفَلَاbut (there will be) noفَوْتَescapeوَ اُخِذُوْاand they will be seizedمِنْfromمَّكَانٍa placeقَرِیْبٍۙnear وَّ قَالُوْۤاAnd they will sayاٰمَنَّاWe believeبِهٖ ۚin itوَ اَنّٰیBut howلَهُمُfor themالتَّنَاوُشُ(will be) the receivingمِنْfromمَّكَانٍۭa placeبَعِیْدٍۚۖfar off وَّ قَدْAnd certainlyكَفَرُوْاthey disbelievedبِهٖin itمِنْbeforeقَبْلُ ۚbeforeوَ یَقْذِفُوْنَAnd they utter conjecturesبِالْغَیْبِabout the unseenمِنْfromمَّكَانٍۭa placeبَعِیْدٍ far off وَ حِیْلَAnd a barrier will be placedبَیْنَهُمْbetween themوَ بَیْنَand betweenمَاwhatیَشْتَهُوْنَthey desireكَمَاasفُعِلَwas doneبِاَشْیَاعِهِمْwith their kindمِّنْbeforeقَبْلُ ؕbeforeاِنَّهُمْIndeed, theyكَانُوْاwereفِیْinشَكٍّdoubtمُّرِیْبٍ۠disquieting

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Translation of Verse 46-54

(34:46) Say to them, (O Prophet): “I give you but one counsel: stand up (for heaven's sake), singly and in pairs, and then think: what is it in your companion(to wit, Muhammad) that could be deemed as madness?”⁶⁶ He is nothing but a warner, warning you before the coming of a grevious chastisement.⁶⁷

(34:47) Say to them: “Whatever recompense I might ask of you, it shall be yours.⁶⁸ My recompense is with Allah, and He is witness over everything.”⁶⁹

(34:48) Say to them: “My Lord hurls down the Truth (upon me).⁷⁰ He knows fully all that lies beyond the range of perception.”

(34:49) Say: “The Truth has come and falsehood can neither originate nor recreate anything.”

(34:50) Say: “If I go astray then the hurt of straying will come only upon me. But if I am rightly-guided, that is only because of the revelation that my Lord makes to me. He is All-Hearing, Ever Nigh.”⁷¹

(34:51) If you could only see when the unbelievers will go about in a state of terror. They will have no escape and will be seized from a place near at hand.⁷²

(34:52) They will then say: “We believe in it”;⁷³ but whence can they attain it from so far-off a place?⁷⁴

(34:53) They disbelieved in it before and indulged in conjectures from far away.⁷⁵

(34:54) A barrier will be placed between them and what they desire, as was done with the likes of them before. Surely they were in a disquieting doubt.⁷⁶

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Commentary

66. Here an appeal is being made to the unbelievers to rise above their interests, desires and biases and for them to give thought, with open minds and purely for God's sake, as individuals and in groups, regarding the Prophet (peace be on him). They should think and earnestly discuss why they brand him as insane, one whom they recognized only a short while earlier as a paragon of wisdom and integrity. After all, it was not long before Muhammad (peace be on him) had proclaimed himself to be a Prophet that the Makkans unanimously appointed him to arbitrate between the disputing parties on the question of installing the Black Stone in the Ka’bah.

The Makkans felt immensely satisfied" ‘when, thanks to Muhammad’s wisdom, he was able to amicably resolve that dispute. Thus, they had witnessed at first hand the Prophet’s wisdom and sagacity. What change took place in him after that which then warranted that he be called a madman? It is a different matter to deny something out of obstinacy, but do you truly believe with your hearts that which you say with your tongues?

67. The unbelievers are asked: are they labelling the Prophet (peace be on him) with insanity simply because he warned them that a grievous chastisement would come upon them? Do they think that the sign of a person’s sanity is that when he sees his people rushing towards their doom, he applauds and encourages them to persist in so following this path of destruction they have chosen for themselves? Do they really think that he who warns people before things get really bad and who directs them to goodness in place of evil is insane?

68. We have translated this part of the verse as follows: “Whatever recompense I ask of you shall be yours”. In our opinion, this is one possible meaning of this part of the verse. However, it could also mean that the Prophet (peace be on him) wanted no other recompense except that his people reform themselves. If they did so, that was the recompense he sought. The same truth is propounded elsewhere in the Qur’an: “Say to them: ‘I ask of you no reward for my work. My only reward is that whoever so wills may follow the way leading to His Lord’”, (al-Furqan 25:57).

69. Notwithstanding the baseless charges leveled at the Prophet ‘(peace be on him) by his opponents, God knows everything. He is a witness that the Prophet (peace be on him) had pursued his mission selflessly and that he had had no axe whatever to grind.

70. The actual words are “yaqdhifu bi al-haqq”. One meaning of this is that God conveys true knowledge to the Prophet (peace be on him) through revelation. A second meaning is that God makes the truth predominate by having it strike a crushing blow at falsehood.

71. Some people in our time misinterpret this verse, claiming that it affirms that the Prophet (peace be on him) could go astray. In fact, they claim that he used to go astray. They further claim that since that was the case, God made the Prophet (peace be on him) say that he himself was responsible for his straying whenever that happened.

They claim, moreover, that he was rightly-guided only when his Lord sent revelation [to wit, Qur’anic verses] to him. Such people are thus trying, by means of this flawed interpretation, to show that the Prophet’s life was a mixture of true guidance and error. The Qur’an, in their view, proclaimed this lest anyone decided to completely follow the Prophet (peace be on him) under the’ mistaken notion that he was always on the Right Path.

Anyone with even an iota of common sense and who takes into account the context in which the words “if I go astray” occur is bound to conclude that the statement should not be taken in its literal sense.

What was being said, in effect, is: “If the Prophet has gone astray, as they allege, and that if his claim to be a Prophet and his call to tawhid have ensued from his straying, it is the Prophet rather than they who will face the dire consequences of straying. On the contrary, if he is rightly-guided - which he indeed is — this is thanks to the revelation that comes to him from his Lord whereby he receives true - knowledge of the Right Way. His Lord is quite close to him. He hears everything. He fully knows whether the Prophet has gone astray or is rightly-guided”.

72. On the Last Day, the culprits will be instantly captured as though someone was waiting in ambush for them; no one will be able to escape.

73. That is, they will then profess belief in the teachings expounded by the Prophet (peace be on him) in the world.

74. The unbelievers should have believed while they were in the world, the world they have now left far behind. Once a person has set his foot in the Hereafter, the opportunity to believe and repent is gone.

75, The unbelievers levelled all kinds of accusations at the Prophet (peace be on him), hurling a variety of mocking and taunting remarks his way. They variously called him a magician and a madman. On occasion they even made fun of monotheism. On others, they made the Hereafter the butt of their ridicule. They also fabricated fanciful stories about the Prophet (peace be on him), one of them being that a particular person had taught him all that he expounded. They also scoffed at the believers, saying that they followed the Prophet (peace be on him) out of ignorance and naiveté.

76. It goes without saying that no one can embrace polytheism, atheism and denial of the Hereafter on grounds of absolute certainty.

This because certainty comes from knowledge and no one knows for sure that God does not exist or that there are many gods or that others have a share in God’s Divinity or that it is impossible for the Afterlife to occur. Those who entertain such notions have erected a whole structure merely on the basis of conjecture and speculation, which rests on nothing else but stark scepticism. This scepticism altogether misled them. Thanks to it, they became sceptical about God’s existence, about ' the truth of monotheis1a, and about the imminence of the Hereafter.

They proceeded along this course until scepticism about the objects of belief changed into categorical negation. This took hold of their hearts so completely that they simply refused to accept the teachings of the Prophets and wasted their lives in following a truly flawed way.