| This Surah (Revealed) Meccan, except for verse 6, which is Medinese; it consists of 54 or 55 verses,
revealed after [sūrat] Luqmān.(Sabaâ)
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| بِسْم ِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَٰنِ الرَّحِيمِ | | Ayah First 1 الأية الأولي |
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Tafseer
Praise be to God â God, exalted be He, praises Himself with these [words]; the
import constitutes the eulogy that âpraiseâ is ever-established [for God] and it entails the
attribution to Him of all that is beautiful, exalted be He â 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.
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Tafseer
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.
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Tafseer
And those who disbelieve say, âThe Hour, the Resurrection, will never come to
usâ. Say, to them: âYes indeed, by my Lord, it shall come to you â [by] the Knower of the Unseen (read
âālimiâl-ghaybi as an adjectival qualification [of wa-rabbī, âby my Lordâ], or read âālimuâl-ghaybi,
as the predicate of a [missing] subject [such as huwa, âHe isâ]; or read âallāmiâl-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),
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Tafseer
that He may requite, thereat, those who believe and perform righteous deeds â
for such there will be forgiveness and a fair provision, in Paradise.
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Tafseer
And those who strive against, [who strive] to invalidate, Our signs, namely, the
Qurâān, deeming Us inomnipotent (muâajjizīna, a variant reading [of this] here and later on [in
verse 38, below] is muâājizīna:
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| Ayah so that respectively these mean] âdeeming that We are incapableâ [muâajjizīna], or
[if read muâājizīna] âvying 488 with Us, in order to elude Usâ) for they suppose that there is no [such thing
as] resurrection or punishment â for such there will be a chastisement of an awful punishmentâ (read either
alīmin or alīmun [respectively] as an adjectival qualification of rijzin, âpunishmentâ or âadhābun,
âchastisementâ).
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Tafseer
And those who have been given knowledge â the believers from among the People of
the Scripture, such as âAbd Allāh b. Salām and his companions â see, they know, that what has been
revealed to you from your Lord, that is, the Qurâān, 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.
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Tafseer
And those who disbelieve say, that is, some of them say to others in order to
provoke disbelief [in them]: âShall we show you a man â namely, Muhammad (s) â who will inform you that when
you have been utterly torn to pieces you shall indeed be created anew?â
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Tafseer
Has he invented (read aâftarā; 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.
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Tafseer
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: âlarge piecesâ) from the heaven
(a variant reading has the third person singular for all three verbs [sc. yashāâ, âHe willâ, yakhsif, âHe
makes to swallowâ, yusqit, âHe lets fallâ]). Surely in that, which is observed, there is a sign for every penitent
servant, turning back to his Lord, [signs] indicating Godâs power to resurrect and to do what He will.
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Tafseer
And verily We bestowed on David a [great] favour from Us â prophethood and
scripture â and We said: âO mountains, repeat with him [in praise], by making glorifications, and the birds
[too]!â (read waâl-tayra in the accusative as a supplement to the [syntactical] locus of jibāl, âmountainsâ, 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.
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Tafseer
And We said: âFashion, from it, long coats of mail â complete suits of armour
which the person wearing it drags behind him along the ground â and measure [well] the linksâ, 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.
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Tafseer
And, We disposed, for Solomon the wind (the nominative reading of al-rīhu would
be based on an implicit [missing verb] sakhkharnā, âWe disposedâ) its morning course, meaning its
journey from the morning to the noon, was a monthâs journey and its evening course, that is, its journey from
the noon to sunset, was a monthâs journey. And We caused a fount of [molten] copper to flow for him, in
other words, We caused the 489 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 â 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.
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Tafseer
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 â 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) â around each âbasinâ a thousand men would gather to eat â 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: âWork, 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 thankfulâ, labouring in obedience to Me in thanks for My
favours.
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Tafseer
And when We decreed for him, for Solomon, death, in other words, [when] he died
â 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 â 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, âit [the piece of wood]
was eaten away by a termite [al-arada]â) that gnawed away at his staff (read minsaâatahu or minsātahu,
replacing the hamza with an alif, meaning a âstaffâ, so called because [when describing it one would say] yunsaâu
bihā, to mean it is used to repel or drive away [creatures]â). 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
â comprising what was hidden from them in the way of Solomon being dead â 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].
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Tafseer
Verily there was for Sheba (Sabaâ, declined [as li-Sabaâin] or left as
indeclinable [li-Sabaâa], 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 Godâs power, exalted be He, two gardens (jannatān, a substitution
[for āyatun, âa signâ]) 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: âEat of your Lordâs provision and give thanks to Him, for the graces He
has bestowed on you in the land of Sheba. A good land â 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 â and, God is, a forgiving Lord.â
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Tafseer
But they were disregardful, of giving thanks to Him and became disbelievers, so
We unleashed upon them the flood of the Dam (al-âarim is the plural of âarima, 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 floodwaters 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 490 [would have been used]) bitter fruit, bitter and vile (ukul may be read as a
genitive annexation [ukulin khamtin] in the sense of âthat 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-shayâin min sidrin qalīl) and tamarisk and sparse lote trees.
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Tafseer
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 illāâl-kafūru; or read as
hal nujāzī illāâl-kafūra, âWould We requite anyone but the ingrate?â), in other words, it is only the like of such
who is called to account.
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Tafseer
And We set between them, between Sheba, who were in Yemen, and the towns which
We had blessed, with [abundance of] water and trees â these being the towns of Syria, to which they
used to travel for commerce â 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, âTravel through them night and day safelyâ, having no fear by
night or by day.
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Tafseer
But they said, âOur Lord, make far apart (baââid: a variant reading has bāâid)
the stages of our travelâ, 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 [Godâs]
graces.
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Tafseer
And verily Iblīs proved true (read sadaqa or saddaqa) his opinion of them, that
is, of the disbelievers among them â [the folk of] Sheba â 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 âhe
was right in his opinionâ, and [if read] saddaqa, it would mean that âhe found this [opinion of his] to be
trueâ) â [all] except a group of the believers (minaâl-muâminīna, [the min, âofâ] is explicative [not partitive],
in other words, [all except that group] who were the believers: they did not follow him).
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Tafseer
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.
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Tafseer
Say, O Muhammad (s), to the disbelievers of Mecca: âCall 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 auxiliaryâ,
[anyone required as His] helper.
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Tafseer
And intercession will not avail with Him, exalted be He â this was in response
to their saying that their gods 491 would intercede [for them] with Him â except for him to whom leave is given, in
this respect (read adhina, â[to whom] He gives leaveâ; or udhina, â[to whom] leave is givenâ). Yet, when
fear is banished from their hearts (read active fazzaâa, or passive fuzziâa), [when fear] is removed from
them, upon leave being given for this [intercession], they will say â some will say to others in anticipation
of a favourable outcome â âWhat has your Lord said?â, concerning this. They will say:
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| Ayah He has said] the
saying that is, âThe truthâ, 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.
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Tafseer
Say: âWho provides for you from the heavens, rain, and [from] the earth?â,
vegetation. Say: âGod!â â [even] if they do not say it, there is no other [valid] answer. And indeed either we or
you are â in other words [either] one of the two parties [is] â 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].
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Tafseer
Say: âYou will not be questioned about the sins we committed, nor shall we be
questioned about what you doâ, for we are quit of you.
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Tafseer
Say: âOur 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 Knowingâ, in what He judges.
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