34. Sūrat Sabaʾ

٣٤۔ سُورَةُ سَبَأ

Qurʾān > Chapter 34 > Section 4
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34.4 The people of Sheba rejected God's blessings and disbelieved in the Hereafter, so God made them merely a tale of the past.

٣٤۔٤ مقطع في سُورَةُ سَبَأ

quran:34:15 –

There was for ˹the tribe of˺ Saba' in their dwelling place a sign: two ˹fields of˺ gardens on the right and on the left. ˹They were told˺, "Eat from the provisions of your Lord and be grateful to Him. A good land ˹have you˺, and a forgiving Lord."  

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.’
القرآن:٣٤:١٥ –

لَقَدْ كَانَ لِسَبَإٍ فِي مَسْكَنِهِمْ آيَةٌ ۖ جَنَّتَانِ عَنْ يَمِينٍ وَشِمَالٍ ۖ كُلُوا مِنْ رِزْقِ رَبِّكُمْ وَاشْكُرُوا لَهُ ۚ بَلْدَةٌ طَيِّبَةٌ وَرَبٌّ غَفُورٌ  

{لقد كان لسبأ} بالصرف وعدمه قبيلة سميت باسم جد لهم من العرب {في مسكنهم} باليمن {آية} دالة على قدرة الله تعالى {جنتان} بدل {عن يمين وشمال} من يمين واديهم وشماله وقيل لهم: {كلوا من رزق ربكم واشكروا له} على ما رزقكم من النعمة في أرض سبأ {بلدة طيبة} ليس فيها سباخ ولا بعوضة ولا ذبابة ولا برغوث ولا عقرب ولا حية ويمر الغريب فيها وفي ثيابه قمل فيموت لطيب هوائها {و} الله {رب غفور}.
quran:34:16 –

But they turned away ˹refusing˺, so We sent upon them the flood of the dam, and We replaced their two ˹fields of˺ gardens with gardens of bitter fruit, tamarisks and something of sparse lote trees.  

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 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 ˹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.
القرآن:٣٤:١٦ –

فَأَعْرَضُوا فَأَرْسَلْنَا عَلَيْهِمْ سَيْلَ الْعَرِمِ وَبَدَّلْنَاهُمْ بِجَنَّتَيْهِمْ جَنَّتَيْنِ ذَوَاتَيْ أُكُلٍ خَمْطٍ وَأَثْلٍ وَشَيْءٍ مِنْ سِدْرٍ قَلِيلٍ  

{فأعرضوا} عن شكره وكفروا {فأرسلنا عليهم سيل العرم} جمع عرمة وهو ما يمسك الماء من بناء وغيره إلى وقت حاجته، أي سيل واديهم الممسوك بما ذكر فأغرق جنتيهم وأموالهم {وبدلناهم بجنتيهم جنتين ذواتي} تثنية ذوات مفرد على الأصل {أُكُلٍ خَمْطِ} مرِّ بشع بإضافة أكل بمعنى مأكول وتركها ويعطف عليه {وأثل وشيء من سدر قليل}.
quran:34:17 –

˹By˺ that We repaid them because they disbelieved. And do We ˹thus˺ repay except the ungrateful?  

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.
القرآن:٣٤:١٧ –

ذَٰلِكَ جَزَيْنَاهُمْ بِمَا كَفَرُوا ۖ وَهَلْ نُجَازِي إِلَّا الْكَفُورَ  

{ذلك} التبديل {جزيناهم بما كفرواْ} بكفرهم {وهل يجازِى إلا الكفور} بالياء والنون مع كسر الزاي ونصب الكفور، أي ما يناقش إلا هو.
quran:34:18 –

And We placed between them and the cities which We had blessed ˹many˺ visible cities. And We determined between them the ˹distances of˺ journey, ˹saying˺, "Travel between them by night or day in safety."  

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.
القرآن:٣٤:١٨ –

وَجَعَلْنَا بَيْنَهُمْ وَبَيْنَ الْقُرَى الَّتِي بَارَكْنَا فِيهَا قُرًى ظَاهِرَةً وَقَدَّرْنَا فِيهَا السَّيْرَ ۖ سِيرُوا فِيهَا لَيَالِيَ وَأَيَّامًا آمِنِينَ  

{وجعلنا بينهم} بين سبأ، وهم باليمن {وبين القرى التي باركنا فيها} بالماء والشجر وهي قرى الشام التي يسيرون إليها للتجارة {قرى ظاهرة} متواصلة من اليمن إلى الشام {وقدرنا فيها السير} بحيث يقيلون في واحدة ويبيتون في أخرى إلى انتهاء سفرهم ولا يحتاجون فيه إلى حمل زاد وماء أي وقلنا {سيروا فيها ليالي وأياما آمنين} لا تخافون في ليل ولا في نهار.
quran:34:19 –

But ˹insolently˺ they said, "Our Lord, lengthen the distance between our journeys," and wronged themselves, so We made them narrations and dispersed them in total dispersion. Indeed in that are signs for everyone patient and grateful.  

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.
القرآن:٣٤:١٩ –

فَقَالُوا رَبَّنَا بَاعِدْ بَيْنَ أَسْفَارِنَا وَظَلَمُوا أَنْفُسَهُمْ فَجَعَلْنَاهُمْ أَحَادِيثَ وَمَزَّقْنَاهُمْ كُلَّ مُمَزَّقٍ ۚ إِنَّ فِي ذَٰلِكَ لَآيَاتٍ لِكُلِّ صَبَّارٍ شَكُورٍ  

{فقالوا ربنا بَعِّدْ} وفي قراءة باعد {بين أسفارنا} إلى الشام اجعلها مفاوز ليتطاولوا على الفقراء بركوب الرواحل وحمل الزاد والماء فبطروا النعمة {وظلموا أنفسهم} بالكفر {فجعلناهم أحاديث} لمن بعدهم في ذلك {ومزقناهم كل ممزق} فرقناهم في البلاد كل التفريق {إن في ذلك} المذكور {لآيات} عبر {لكل صبَّار} عن المعاصي {شكور} على النعم.
quran:34:20 –

And Iblees had already confirmed through them his assumption, so they followed him, except for a party of believers.  

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).
القرآن:٣٤:٢٠ –

وَلَقَدْ صَدَّقَ عَلَيْهِمْ إِبْلِيسُ ظَنَّهُ فَاتَّبَعُوهُ إِلَّا فَرِيقًا مِنَ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ  

{ولقد صدق} بالتخفيف والتشديد {عليهم} أي الكفار منهم سبأ {إبليس ظنه} أنهم بإغوائه يتبعونه {فاتبعوه} فصدق بالتخفيف في ظنه أو صدق بالشديد ظنه أي وجده صادقا {إلا} بمعنى لكن {فريقا من المؤمنين} لبيان أي هم المؤمنون لم يتبعوه.
quran:34:21 –

And he had over them no authority except ˹it was decreed˺ that We might make evident who believes in the Hereafter from who is thereof in doubt. And your Lord, over all things, is Guardian.  

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.
القرآن:٣٤:٢١ –

وَمَا كَانَ لَهُ عَلَيْهِمْ مِنْ سُلْطَانٍ إِلَّا لِنَعْلَمَ مَنْ يُؤْمِنُ بِالْآخِرَةِ مِمَّنْ هُوَ مِنْهَا فِي شَكٍّ ۗ وَرَبُّكَ عَلَىٰ كُلِّ شَيْءٍ حَفِيظٌ  

{وما كان له عليهم من سلطان} تسليط {إلا لنعلم} علم ظهور {من يؤمن بالآخرة ممن هو منها في شك} فنجازي كلا منهما {وربك على شيء حفيظ} رقيب.