Saba

Praise be to God — God, exalted be He, praises Himself with these [words]; the import constitutes the eulogy that ‘praise’ is ever-established [for God] and it entails the attribution to Him of all that is beautiful, exalted be He — to Whom belongs whatever is in the heavens and whatever is in the earth, as possessions and creation. And to Him belongs [all] praise in the Hereafter, as in this world, for His friends praise Him as they enter Paradise. And He is the Wise, in what He does, the Aware, of His creatures.

He knows what penetrates the earth, of water and so forth, and what issues out of it, of vegetation and so on, and what comes down from the heaven, of provision and so on, and what ascends into it, of deeds and so on, and He is the Merciful, to His friends, the Forgiving, to them.

And those who disbelieve say, ‘The Hour, the Resurrection, will never come to us’. Say, to them: ‘Yes indeed, by my Lord, it shall come to you — [by] the Knower of the Unseen (read ‘ālimi’l-ghaybi as an adjectival qualification [of wa-rabbī, ‘by my Lord’], or read ‘ālimu’l-ghaybi, as the predicate of a [missing] subject [such as huwa, ‘He is’]; or read ‘allāmi’l-ghaybi). Not [even] the weight of an atom escapes, is hidden [from], Him in the heavens or in the earth, nor [is there] anything smaller than that or greater, but it is in a Manifest Book, namely, the Preserved Tablet (al-lawh al-mahfūz),

that He may requite, thereat, those who believe and perform righteous deeds — for such there will be forgiveness and a fair provision, in Paradise.

And those who strive against, [who strive] to invalidate, Our signs, namely, the Qur’ān, deeming Us inomnipotent (mu‘ajjizīna, a variant reading [of this] here and later on [in verse 38, below] is mu‘ājizīna: [so that respectively these mean] ‘deeming that We are incapable’ [mu‘ajjizīna], or [if read mu‘ājizīna] ‘vying with Us, in order to elude Us’) for they suppose that there is no [such thing as] resurrection or punishment — for such there will be a chastisement of an awful punishment’ (read either alīmin or alīmun [respectively] as an adjectival qualification of rijzin, ‘punishment’ or ‘adhābun, ‘chastisement’).

And those who have been given knowledge — the believers from among the People of the Scripture, such as ‘Abd Allāh b. Salām and his companions — see, they know, that what has been revealed to you from your Lord, that is, the Qur’ān, is the, decisive, truth, and [that] it guides to the path, the way, of the Mighty, the Praised, in other words, of God, the Lord of Might Who is ever-praised.

And those who disbelieve say, that is, some of them say to others in order to provoke disbelief [in them]: ‘Shall we show you a man — namely, Muhammad (s) — who will inform you that when you have been utterly torn to pieces you shall indeed be created anew?’

Has he invented (read a’ftarā; the hamza, read with a fatha vowelling, is for the interrogative and suffices in place of the conjunctive hamza) a lie against God, in this [respect], or is there a madness in him, [does he suffer] a dementia on account of which he has imagined that? God, exalted be He, says: Nay, but those who do not believe in the Hereafter, that comprises resurrection and chastisement, will be in the chastisement, thereat, and in error that is far, from the truth, in this world.

Have they not observed what is before them and what is behind them, in other words, what is above them and what is beneath them, of heaven and earth? If We will [it], We can make the earth swallow them or let fall on them fragments (read kisfan or kisafan: ‘large pieces’) from the heaven (a variant reading has the third person singular for all three verbs [sc. yashā’, ‘He will’, yakhsif, ‘He makes to swallow’, yusqit, ‘He lets fall’]). Surely in that, which is observed, there is a sign for every penitent servant, turning back to his Lord, [signs] indicating God’s power to resurrect and to do what He will.

And verily We bestowed on David a [great] favour from Us — prophethood and scripture — and We said: ‘O mountains, repeat with him [in praise], by making glorifications, and the birds [too]!’ (read wa’l-tayra in the accusative as a supplement to the [syntactical] locus of jibāl, ‘mountains’, in other words, and We also called on them to glorify [God] with him). And We made iron malleable for him, so that it was as dough in his hands.

And We said: ‘Fashion, from it, long coats of mail — complete suits of armour which the person wearing it drags behind him along the ground — and measure [well] the links’, that is, in the weaving of the coats (the maker of these is called sarrād). In other words, make them so that the rings thereof are arranged properly. And act, O family of David, together with him, righteously. Indeed I am Seer of what you do, and will requite you for it accordingly.

And, We disposed, for Solomon the wind (the nominative reading of al-rīhu would be based on an implicit [missing verb] sakhkharnā, ‘We disposed’) its morning course, meaning its journey from the morning to the noon, was a month’s journey and its evening course, that is, its journey from the noon to sunset, was a month’s journey. And We caused a fount of [molten] copper to flow for him, in other words, We caused the copper to melt for him, and so the fount flowed for three days and nights like water, and to this day people have been using of that [copper] which was given to Solomon [at that time]. And of the jinn [there] were those who worked before him by the leave, by the command, of his Lord. And such of them as deviated from Our command, to him to obey him [Solomon], We would make them taste the chastisement of the Blaze, the Fire in the Hereafter — but it is also said, [that their chastisement was] in this world, in which case an angel would smite one of them with a lash thereof that would scorch him.

They fashioned for him whatever he wished: lofty shrines (mahārīb are high edifices which are ascended by stairs) and statues (tamāthīl is the plural of timthāl, which is any thing which you fashion as a likeness [of another]), in other words, brass, crystal or marble figures — the use of figures was not prohibited according to his Law; and basins (jifān is the plural of jafna) like cisterns (jawābin is the plural of jābiya, which is a large basin) — around each ‘basin’ a thousand men would gather to eat — and cauldrons built into the ground, fixed with foundations, and cannot be moved from their places: these were made from the [rocks of the] mountains of Yemen, and to which one ascended by climbing up a ladder. And We said: ‘Work, O, House of David, in obedience to God, in thankfulness, to Him for what He has given you. And few indeed of My servants are thankful’, labouring in obedience to Me in thanks for My favours.

And when We decreed for him, for Solomon, death, in other words, [when] he died — he remained supported against his staff an entire year, while the jinn continued to toil in hard labour as was customary, unaware of his death, until [finally] when a termite ate through his staff, he fell to the ground [and was seen to be] dead — nothing indicated to them that he had died except a termite (al-ard is the verbal noun from uridat al-khashaba, passive verbal form, in other words, ‘it [the piece of wood] was eaten away by a termite [al-arada]’) that gnawed away at his staff (read minsa’atahu or minsātahu, replacing the hamza with an alif, meaning a ‘staff’, so called because [when describing it one would say] yunsa’u bihā, to mean it is used to repel or drive away [creatures]’). And when he fell down, dead, the jinn realised, it became apparent to them, that (an, is softened, in other words, annahum) had they known the Unseen — comprising what was hidden from them in the way of Solomon being dead — they would not have continued in the humiliating chastisement, [in] that hard labour of theirs, [in which they continued] as they supposed him to be alive, which is in contrast to what they would have supposed had they known the Unseen and the fact that he had been there an entire year, judging by how much of the staff the termite had eaten through after his death; in other words, [they would not have continued in the humiliating chastisement] for a single day or even a single night [longer].

Verily there was for Sheba (Saba’, declined [as li-Saba’in] or left as indeclinable [li-Saba’a], is [the name of] a tribe that took its name from one of their Arab ancestors) in their dwelling-place, in Yemen, a sign: indicating God’s power, exalted be He, two gardens (jannatān, a substitution [for āyatun, ‘a sign’]) to the right and to the left, in other words, on the right side of their valley and on its left side. And it was said to them: ‘Eat of your Lord’s provision and give thanks to Him, for the graces He has bestowed on you in the land of Sheba. A good land — in which there was no dung, gnats, flies, fleas, scorpions, or snakes, and in which when a stranger passed through with his clothes lice-infected, these [lice] would be killed off because of the purity of its air — and, God is, a forgiving Lord.’

But they were disregardful, of giving thanks to Him and became disbelievers, so We unleashed upon them the flood of the Dam (al-‘arim is the plural of ‘arima, which is a structure or something similar that holds water back [to be stored] for when it is needed), in other words, [We unleashed upon them] the flood-waters of their valley which had been held back by the mentioned [structure] so that they engulfed their two gardens together with all their property. And We gave them in place of their two gardens two gardens bearing (dhawātay, a dual form of [feminine plural] dhawāt; usually [the form dhātay from] the singular [would have been used]) bitter fruit, bitter and vile (ukul may be read as a genitive annexation [ukulin khamtin] in the sense of ‘that which is eaten [thereof being bitter]; or it may be read without [as ukuli khamtin]; and this [phrase] is supplemented [by the following, wa-athlin wa-shay’in min sidrin qalīl) and tamarisk and sparse lote trees.

That, replacement [of what they had], is what We requited them with for their ingratitude: and is anyone but the ingrate ever [so] requited? (read hal yujāzā illā’l-kafūru; or read as hal nujāzī illā’l-kafūra, ‘Would We requite anyone but the ingrate?’), in other words, it is only the like of such who is called to account.

And We set between them, between Sheba, who were in Yemen, and the towns which We had blessed, with [abundance of] water and trees — these being the towns of Syria, to which they used to travel for commerce — prominent towns, continuous [along the route] from Yemen to Syria, and We facilitated [for travellers] the journeying through them, such that they would rest for the afternoon in one and spend the night in the next, [and so on] until the end of their travel, having no need of any supplies or water along the way; and We said, ‘Travel through them night and day safely’, having no fear by night or by day.

But they said, ‘Our Lord, make far apart (ba‘‘id: a variant reading has bā‘id) the stages of our travel’, to Syria: make these [stages through] deserts, so that they could glory before the poor in riding their camels and bearing their supplies and water, and so they behaved wantonly with the graces [bestowed on them by God], and they wronged their souls, through disbelief, and so We made them bywords, [of wrongdoing] in this respect, for those who came after them, and We caused them to disintegrate totally, We scattered them all over the lands. Surely in that, which is mentioned, there are signs, lessons, for every [servant who is] steadfast, [in refraining] from acts of disobedience, grateful, for [God’s] graces.

And verily Iblīs proved true (read sadaqa or saddaqa) his opinion of them, that is, of the disbelievers among them — [the folk of] Sheba — which was that by his tempting them to go astray, they would follow him. So they followed him ([if the verb above is read] sadaqa, this would mean that ‘he was right in his opinion’, and [if read] saddaqa, it would mean that ‘he found this [opinion of his] to be true’) — [all] except a group of the believers (mina’l-mu’minīna, [the min, ‘of’] is explicative [not partitive], in other words, [all except that group] who were the believers: they did not follow him).

And he did not have any warrant over them, any power to sway [them], from Us, but that We might know, by [this] knowledge being made manifest, him who believed in the Hereafter from him who was in doubt thereof, and so requite each of the two accordingly. And your Lord is Preserver, Watcher, of all things.

Say, O Muhammad (s), to the disbelievers of Mecca: ‘Call on those whom you have asserted, those whom you have asserted to be gods, besides God, in other words, other than Him, so that they might benefit you, as you are wont to assert. God, exalted be He, says of them: They do not possess [even] so much as the weight of an atom, of good or evil, in the heavens or in the earth, and they do not have any share in either of them, nor has He, exalted be He, among them, the gods, any auxiliary’, [anyone required as His] helper.

And intercession will not avail with Him, exalted be He — this was in response to their saying that their gods would intercede [for them] with Him — except for him to whom leave is given, in this respect (read adhina, ‘[to whom] He gives leave’; or udhina, ‘[to whom] leave is given’). Yet, when fear is banished from their hearts (read active fazza‘a, or passive fuzzi‘a), [when fear] is removed from them, upon leave being given for this [intercession], they will say — some will say to others in anticipation of a favourable outcome — ‘What has your Lord said?’, concerning this. They will say: [He has said] the saying that is, ‘The truth’, in other words, leave has been given for it. And He is the Exalted, above His creation, by [His] subjugation [of them], the Great, the Tremendous.

Say: ‘Who provides for you from the heavens, rain, and [from] the earth?’, vegetation. Say: ‘God!’ — [even] if they do not say it, there is no other [valid] answer. And indeed either we or you are — in other words [either] one of the two parties [is] — rightly guided or in manifest error. The ambiguity here [concerning which of the two is rightly guided] is intended as a gentle invitation for them to [embrace] faith if their way to it is facilitated [by God].

Say: ‘You will not be questioned about the sins we committed, nor shall we be questioned about what you do’, for we are quit of you.

Say: ‘Our Lord will bring us together, on the Day of Resurrection, then He will judge between us with truth, and He will admit the truthful into Paradise and the liars into the Fire. And He is the Judge, the Knowing’, in what He judges.

Say: ‘Show me, apprise me of, those whom you have joined to Him as associates, in worship. No indeed! — [this is] meant to deter them from [even] supposing that He has an associate. Rather He is God, the Mighty, Whose way will prevail, the Wise’, in the way in which He manages [the affairs of] His creation and so He could not have any associate in His kingdom.

And We did not send you except to all (kāffatan is a circumstantial qualifier referring to al-nās, ‘mankind’, and is made to precede [li’l-nās] because of the importance attached to it) of mankind [both] as a bearer of good tidings, to believers, of Paradise, and a warner, to the disbelievers, of chastisement, but most people, such as the disbelievers of Mecca, do not know, this.

And they say, ‘When shall this promise, of chastisement, be [fulfilled], if you are being truthful?’, concerning it.

Say: ‘Yours is the tryst of a Day which you can neither defer nor advance by a single hour’, and this is the Day of Resurrection.

And those who disbelieve, from among the people of Mecca, say, ‘We will not believe in this Qur’ān, nor in that which was [revealed] before it’ — in other words, what preceded it, such as the Torah and the Gospel, both of which contain proofs of the Resurrection — because they reject the truth of this [last]. God, exalted be He, says of them: But if you were to see, O Muhammad (s), when the evildoers, the disbelievers, are brought to stand before their Lord, bandying arguments against one another. Those who were oppressed — the followers — will say to those who were arrogant — the leaders: ‘Had it not been for you, barring us from faith, we would have been believers’, in the Prophet.

Those who were arrogant will say to those who were oppressed, ‘Was it us who barred you from guidance after it had come to you?, Nay! Rather you were guilty’, of your own accord.

And those who were oppressed will say to those who were arrogant, ‘Nay, but [it was your] scheming night and day, in other words, [such were] your schemes against us during both [of these times], when you used to command us to disbelieve in God and set up partners with Him’. And they, that is, the two parties, will conceal their remorse, for not having believed in Him, when they see the chastisement, in other words, each person will hide it [his remorse] from the next for fear of being reviled; and We will place fetters around the necks of the disbelievers, [while they are] in the Fire. Shall they be requited except, the requital, for what they used to do?, in the world.

And We did not send a warner to any town without its affluent ones, its leaders, those enjoying [life’s] comforts, saying, ‘Indeed we disbelieve in that [Message] with which you have been sent’.

And they say, ‘We possess more wealth and children, than those who are believers, and we shall not be chastised’.

Say: ‘Truly my Lord extends provision, He makes it abundant, for whomever He will, as a test, and restricts [it], for whomever He will, to try [them], but most people, such as the disbelievers of Mecca, do not know’, this [truth].

Nor is it your wealth or your children that will bring you near to Us in closeness, except for, but [it is], those who believe and act righteously: those, they shall have a twofold reward for what they did, in other words, [they shall have it] as the reward of their action — as a good deed, for example, is rewarded tenfold or more — and they shall be in the lofty abodes, of Paradise, secure, from death and otherwise (a variant reading [for al-ghurufāt] is al-ghurfa [the generic noun] implying a plural).

And those who strive against Our signs, namely, the Qur’ān, [seeking] to invalidate it, supposing [Us] to be inomnipotent — or [supposing] that they can elude Us — those, they will be arraigned into the chastisement.

Say: ‘My Lord extends provision, He makes it abundant, for whomever He will of His servants, as a test, and restricts [it] for him, after having extended it — or [He restricts it] for him whom He will to try, and whatever thing you may expend, for [the cause of] good, He will replace it. And He is the best of providers’. It is said that every man ‘provides for’ his dependants (yarzuqu ‘ā’ilatahu), meaning that [he does so] from the provision given [to him] by God.

And, mention, on the Day when He will gather them all together, namely, [all] the idolaters, He will say to the angels, ‘Was it these who used to worship you?’ (read a-hā’ūlā’i iyyākum, pronouncing both hamzas, or by replacing the first with a yā’ or dropping it altogether).

They will say, ‘Glory be to You, exalted above that You should have an associate! You are our Supporter, not they, in other words, as far as we are concerned there are no bonds of association between us and them. Nay, (bal, is to indicate transition) rather, they used to worship the jinn, the devils, in other words, [they used to] obey them and [agree to] worship us; most of them were believers in them’, accepting as truth what these [jinn] used to say to them.

God, exalted be He, says: ‘So today none among you has any power over another, in other words, none of those worshipped [have any power] over any of those who worshipped, either to benefit, [through] intercession, or to hurt’, [through] chastisement. And We shall say to those who did wrong, who disbelieved: ‘Taste the chastisement of the Fire which you used to deny!’

And when Our signs, [from] the Qur’ān, are recited to them, [being] clear signs, evident [ones], by the tongue of our Prophet Muhammad (s), they say, ‘This is just a man who desires to bar you from [worshipping] what your fathers used to worship’, of idols. And they say, ‘This, Qur’ān, is nothing but a calumny, a lie, that has been invented, against God. And those who disbelieve say to the truth, the Qur’ān, when it comes to them, ‘This is nothing but plain sorcery’. God, exalted be He, says:

And We did not give them any scriptures for them to study, nor did We send them any warner before you, so on what grounds do they deny you?

And those who were before them [also] denied, and they, these ones [the Meccans], have not received [even] a tenth of what We gave those [others], in the way of might, long life and abundance of wealth. Yet they denied My messengers, [who were sent] to them, so how was My abhorrence! [so how was] My rebuttal against them through punishment and destruction, in other words, it was appropriate.

Say: ‘I will give you just one [piece of] admonition: namely, that you rise up for God, in other words, for His sake, in twos and individually, and then reflect: and realise [that], there is no madness in your companion, Muhammad (s). He is just a warner to you before [the befalling of] a severe chastisement’, in the Hereafter, if you disobey him.

Say, to them: ‘I have not asked you, in return for [my] warning and delivering the Message [to you], any reward, since it is for [the benefit of] you, in other words, I do not ask you for any reward in return for this. Indeed my reward lies only with God, and He is Witness over all things’, observing [them all], knowing my truthfulness.

Say: ‘Indeed my Lord hurls the truth, He casts it onto His prophets — [He is] the Knower of the Unseen’, [of] all that is hidden from His creatures throughout the heavens and the earth.

Say: ‘The truth, Islam, has come. And falsehood, disbelief, neither originates nor restores [anything]’, in other words, it leaves no trace [of itself] behind.

Say: ‘If I go astray, from the truth, I will be going astray only to my own loss, that is to say, the sin of my going astray shall be held against me; and if I am rightly guided, it will have been by what my Lord reveals to me, of the Qur’ān and wisdom. Truly He is Hearer, of supplications, Nigh’.

If you could but see, O Muhammad (s), when they are stricken with terror, at the Resurrection, you would see a dreadful thing, and so there is no escape, for them, from Us, that is to say, they will not [be able to] elude Us, and they are seized from a close quarter, namely, [from] the graves.

And they will say, ‘We believe in him [now]’, in other words, [in] Muhammad (s) — or [if read ‘We believe in it’, then] in the Qur’ān. But how can they attain [it] (read tanāwush or tanā’ush), that is, attain faith, from a place that is far away, from the place for [attaining] it — as they are [now] in the Hereafter, and the [proper] place for [attaining] it was in this world —

when they disbelieved in it before?, in this world. And they throw guesses at the Unseen from a far-off place, in other words, [they make guesses] about something the knowledge of which was hidden far away from them, as when they would say that the Prophet was a sorcerer, or a poet, or a soothsayer, or that the Qur’ān was sorcery, poetry or soothsaying.

And a barrier is set between them and what they crave, in the way of faith — in other words, [their craving] to embrace it — just as was done with their counterparts, in [respect to] disbelief, formerly, in other words, before them. Indeed they used to be in grave doubt, [doubt] causing them to have misgivings about that in which they now believe, but the proofs for which they never considered in this world.