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34. SABA In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful.

Saba

1. Praise is due only for Allah, to Whom belongs whatever is in the skies and whatever is in the earth. And in the hereafter (too) praise will be due only for Him and He is the Wise, the Informed. 2. He knows that which enters into the earth and that which comes out of it and that which comes down from the sky and that which goes up into it, and He is the Merciful, the Protectively Forgiving. 3. And those who do not believe say, The hour of doom will not come upon us, Say, Why not? By my Fosterer, it will definitely come upon you.(He is) the Knower of the unseen, not (even) the weight of a particle in the skies or in the earth, nor (something) less than that or greater, is hidden from Him but (it is recorded) in a clear record 4. that He may reward those who believe and do righteous works, those are the persons for whom is protective forgiveness and an honorable provision. 5. And those who strive against Our signs to frustrate them, those are the persons for whom there is a punishment of painfully weakening uneasiness. 6. And those who are given knowledge see, that what is sent down to you from your Fosterer is the truth and it guides to the path of the Mighty, the Praised. 7. And those who do not believe say, Should we show you a man who informs you that when you are scattered a total scattering (after death), you will be ( raised )in a new creation? 8. He has forged a lie against Allah or he is under the influence of a jinn. No, those who do not believe in the hereafter are (involved) in the punishment, and in error they are far away (from the right path).

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9. Did they not then consider that which is before them (future) and that which is behind them (past) of the sky and the earth? If We will We can cause the earth to sink with them or We can drop on them pieces from the sky. Certainly there is a sign in that for every servant who turns in repentance (to Allah). (R1) 10. And indeed We had given to Dawood grace from Us (ordering): O mountains! Echo with him (Allahs praise) and the birds (too), and We made the iron soft for him 11. so as to make coats of mail, and measure the links therein, and do righteous work, I am certainly a Seer of what you do. 12. And (We made) the wind (to be under the control) of Sulaiman. Its morning (journey was equal to the journey of) a month and its evening (journey was equal to the journey of) a month and We made a fountain of copper to flow for him (probably in the form of a volcanic eruption) and from among the jinn (We gave him those) who worked before him by the order of his Fosterer, and whoever from among them deviated from Our command, We made him taste (something) from the punishment of blazing fire. 13. They made for him what he willed, of the fortresses and images and bowls like reservoirs and fixed cooking pots. Work! Family of Dawood, being grateful and few of My servants are grateful. 14. Then when We decreed death for him, nothing indicated his death to them except a moving creature of the earth which ate away his staff, so when he fell down it was made clear to the jinn, that, had they known the unseen they would not have been remained in the disgraceful punishment (even after his death). 15. There were indeed a sign for (the people of) Saba in their houses: two gardens on the right and the left, eat of the provision of your Fosterer and be grateful to Him, a good land and a Protectively Forgiving Fosterer.

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16. But they turned away (being ungrateful), so We sent on them the tremendous flood and in exchange for their two gardens, We gave to them two (other) gardens yielding bitter fruit and tamarisk and few lote trees. 17. Thus did We reward them because they were ungrateful. And do We reward (in this manner anyone) but the ungrateful?

18. And We had made between them and the towns which We had blessed, easy visibility; and We had apportioned the journey therein: Travel therein by nights and by days, secure.

19. But they said, Our Fosterer! Increase the distance between our journeys, and they were unjust to themselves, so We made them stories and We scattered them a total scattering. Certainly there are signs in that for every patient, grateful one. 20. And Iblis (the devil) proved true on them his guess, so they followed him except a party of the believers. 21. And he (the devil) has no authority on them, except that (through his instigations to human beings) We (come to) know (or distinguish) him who believes in the hereafter from him who is in doubt about it, and your Fosterer is a Custodian over everything. (R2)

22. Say, Pray to those besides Allah whom you claim (to be gods or His partners). They do not control (even) the weight of the particle in the skies or in the earth, and they do not have in them both any share, and He does not have among them any helper. 23. And no recommendation will be of benefit with Him, except of him whom He will permit. At that point, when horror will be removed from their hearts, they will say, What did your Fosterer say? They will say, The truth. And He is the High, the Great.

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24. Say, Who provides you from the skies and the earth? Say, Allah, and certainly (either) we or you are on guidance or in clear error. 25. Say, You will not be question about our crimes neither will we be questioned about what you do. 26. Say, Our Fosterer will gather us together then He will Judge between us with truth, and He is the judge, the Knowing. 27. Say, Show me those whom you have joined with Him as partners, by no means (are they partners), no it is Allah (Who is), the Mighty, the Wise. 28. And We have sent you as a conveyer of good news and a warner to all mankind, but the majority of human beings does not know. 29. And they say, When will this promise (be fulfilled) if you are truthful? 30. Say, For you is a promised day which you cannot postpone from its (appointed) time nor can you advance (it). (R 3, P 21 ) 31. And those who do not believe say, We will never believe in this Quran nor in (those books) which were before it. And if you could see when the unjust will be made to stand before their Fosterer, one turning to the other in argument. Those who were considered weak will say to those who were considered great, Had it not been for you, we would have been believers. 32. Those who were considered great will say to those who were considered weak, Did we turn you away from the guidance after it had come to you? No, you were criminals. 33. And those considered weak will say to those who were considered great, No, (this happened due to your) planning by night and day, when you commanded us not to believe in Allah and to set up equals with Him. And

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they will hide (their) regret when they see the punishment, and We will get the chains tied in the necks of those who did not believe. Will they be rewarded for anything other than that which they used to do?

34. And We did not send a warner to any town, but those who led a luxurious life in it said, We do not believe in that which you are sent with. 35. And they say, We have more wealth and children than you and we will not be punished. 36. Say, It is my Fosterer Who enlarges the provision for whom He wills and straitens (it for whomever and whenever He wills), but the majority of human beings certainly does not know. (R4) 37. Neither your wealth nor your children (are things) through which you (can) come nearer to Us, unless (you are of those) who believe and do righteous work. So those are the persons who will have double the reward because of what they did, and they will be secure in high places. 38. And those who strive against Our signs to frustrate them, those will be made to be present in the punishment. 39. Say, (It is) certainly my Fosterer (Who) enlarges the provision for whom He wills of His servants and straitens (it) for him (whenever He wills). And whatever you spend from anything, He replaces it, and He is the Best of providers. 40. And on the day He will gather them all together then say to the angels, Are these the ones who used to worship you? 41. They will say, Glory be to You, You are our Guardian not they, no, they used to worship the jinn, most of them were believers in them. 42. So on that day you will not be able to benefit or harm each other, and We will say to those who were unjust, Taste the

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punishment of the fire which you used to deny.

Saba

43. And when Our clear signs are read to them they say, He is nothing but a man who intends to turn you away from that which your forefathers worshipped. And they say, This is nothing but a forged lie. And those who do not believe say about the truth when it comes to them, This is nothing but clear magic. 44. And we did not give them (Makkans) any books which they study nor did We send to them any warner before you. 45. And those before them denied, and these have not reached the tenth of that which We gave to them, yet they denied Our messengers so how was My rejection (of them)! (R 5)

46. Say, I admonish you only for one thing, that you stand in pairs and singly for the sake of Allah then reflect, your companion is not under the influence of a jinn, he is only a warner (sent) to you before a severe punishment.

47. Say, I do not ask you for a reward, but ( that which I ask you to do) is for your (benefit, the responsibility of) rewarding me (rests on none) but Allah and He is a Witness over everything. 48. Say, My Fosterer certainly strikes through the truth, Great Knower of the unseen. 49. Say, The truth has come and nothing is originated or reproduced by falsehood. 50. Say, If I err, I err only against my own soul and if I am guided then it is because of that which my Fosterer has communicated to me, He is certainly Hearing, Near. 51. And if you could only see when they are horrified, then there will be no escape, and they will be caught from a near place.

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52. And they will say, We believe in it. But how can they seek (to believe) from such a distant place, 53. when they did not believe in it earlier? And they strike (guesses) regarding the unseen, from a distant place, 54. And a barrier will be placed between them and that which they desire, as was done with the parties (like) them earlier, they certainly used to be in doubt causing restlessness. (R 6)

Summarized Commentary
Chapter 34 (Revealed at Makkah)

Vs 12 Allah (SWT) mentions some of His Attributes and Powers. Vs 35 The world will come to an end and every individual will be rewarded according to his / her deeds because Allah (SWT) knows everything which is also written down in a record. Those who have knowledge of the tremendous amount of information that can be recorded in computers, floppies, discs etc. can very easily accept this. Vs 6 Real learned people know that the Quran is the truth and just the truth. Vs 78 The infidels consider the Quran to be a lie and do not believe in life after death. They will be punished. Vs 9 Geologists and Astronomers know the past and future of the expanding universe, they can also realize that there could be earth

quakes sinking human beings and meteoritic showers killing them. Vs 1014 See 2:236 for more details Vs 1520 In the story of the people of Saba there is a lesson for mankind: If they are ungrateful following the instigations of the devil, they may face the wrath of Allah (SWT). Vs 21 Believers do not follow the devil whereas infidels fall into his trap. The devil thus helps in distinguishing believers from the infidels and this appears to be one of the purposes of creating him. Vs 22 False gods have no control on any thing. Vs 23 Only those whom Allah (SWT) permits, will be able to recommend to Him for safety of some people. After this recommendation is accepted, then only horror will be removed

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from their hearts. Vs 2430 Prophet Muhammed (PBH) is asked to communicate certain information. Vs 3133 These would be the arguments between the misleaders and their followers on the day of judgment. Vs 3436 Normally, those well-off in the society reject the messengers because of their pride in being wealthy and having more children, although it is Allah (SWT) Who gave them these things. Vs 37 Wealth and children are not the items through which the nearness of Allah (SWT) can be achieved, these items are right belief and righteous work. Vs 38 Those who work against the Quran will be punished.

Saba
Vs 39 Distribution of wealth is in accordance with the will of Allah (SWT) and He replaces that which is spent. Vs 4042 On the day of judgment the angels will say that the polytheists did not serve them but served the jinn (devils). No one will be able to benefit or harm anyone. Vs 4345 Polytheists do not like to give up the false traditions of their forefathers and call the Quran a lie and magic without any authentic knowledge. Earlier generations too denied and faced the consequent punishment. Vs 4650 Prophet Muhammed (PBH) is asked to convey some points to the infidels so that they may reflect. Vs 5154 Belief after seeing the punishment will be of no use and the infidels will not be able to come out of the punishment.

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