Tafheem ul Quran

Surah 34 Saba, Ayat 15-15

لَقَدۡ كَانَ لِسَبَاٍ فِىۡ مَسۡكَنِهِمۡ اٰيَةٌ  ۚ جَنَّتٰنِ عَنۡ يَّمِيۡنٍ وَّشِمَالٍ ؕ  کُلُوۡا مِنۡ رِّزۡقِ رَبِّكُمۡ وَاشۡكُرُوۡا لَهٗ ؕ بَلۡدَةٌ طَيِّبَةٌ وَّرَبٌّ غَفُوۡرٌ‏‏ ﴿34:15﴾

(34:15) For Sheba25 there was also a Sign in their dwelling place:26 the two gardens27 to the right and to the left.“ Eat of your Lord's provision, and render thanks to Him. Most pleasant is your land and Most Forgiving is your Lord.”


Notes

25. To understand the continuity of the subject matter one should keep in view the theme as expressed in( Ayats 1-9). There it has been pointed out that the pagans of Arabia regarded the coming of the Hereafter as irrational, and declared openly that the Messenger (peace be upon him) who was presenting this doctrine was either a mad man or deliberately was fabricating falsehood. In reply to this, Allah first gave some rational arguments, which we have elaborated in (E.Ns 7, 8 and 12 )above. Then in (Ayats 10-21) the story of the Prophets David and Solomon and of Saba has been related as an historical argument, which is meant to impress the reality that the history of the human species on the earth itself testifies to the law of retribution. If man studies his own history carefully, he will see that this world is not a lawless kingdom, which might be functioning blindly, but it is being ruled by an All-Hearing and All- Seeing Being, Who treats and deals with His grateful servants in one way and with the ungrateful and thankless people in quite another way. If one wants one can learn this lesson from the same history that in the Kingdom of God which has such a character, goodness and evil cannot have one and the same result. The necessary demand of its justice is that a time must come when goodness should be fully rewarded and evil fully punished.

26. That is, a sign of this that whatever they have is the gift of some one else and not of their own creation, and a sign of this that the one worthy of their service and worship and gratitude is that God who has blessed them with these favors and not those who have no share in bestowing these, and a sign of this that their wealth is not imperishable but can perish even as it has been amassed.

27. This does not mean that there were only two gardens in the whole country, but that the entire land of Saba was like a garden. Wherever a man stood, he could see a garden on his right and a garden on his left.