34. Sūrat Sabaʾ (2/2)

٣٤۔ سُورَةُ سَبَأ ص ٢

Qurʾān > Chapter 34
القرآن > كتاب ٣٤

Sheba (Meccan)

quran:34:51 –

And if you could see when they are terrified but there is no escape, and they will be seized from a place nearby.  

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.
القرآن:٣٤:٥١ –

وَلَوْ تَرَىٰ إِذْ فَزِعُوا فَلَا فَوْتَ وَأُخِذُوا مِنْ مَكَانٍ قَرِيبٍ  

{ولوْ ترى} يا محمد {إذْ فزعوا} عند البعث لرأيت أمرا عظيما {فلا فوت} لهم منا، أي لا يفوتوننا {وأخذوا من مكان قريب} أي القبور.
quran:34:52 –

And they will ˹then˺ say, "We believe in it!" But how for them will be the taking ˹of faith˺ from a place far away?  

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 —
القرآن:٣٤:٥٢ –

وَقَالُوا آمَنَّا بِهِ وَأَنَّىٰ لَهُمُ التَّنَاوُشُ مِنْ مَكَانٍ بَعِيدٍ  

{وقالوا آمنا به} بمحمد أو القرآن {وأنَّى لهم التناوش} بواو وبالهمزة بدلها، أي تناول الإيمان {من مكان بعيد} عن محله إذ هم في الآخرة ومحله الدنيا.
quran:34:53 –

And they had already disbelieved in it before and would assault the unseen from a place far away.  

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.
القرآن:٣٤:٥٣ –

وَقَدْ كَفَرُوا بِهِ مِنْ قَبْلُ ۖ وَيَقْذِفُونَ بِالْغَيْبِ مِنْ مَكَانٍ بَعِيدٍ  

{وقد كفروا به من قبل} في الدنيا {ويقذفون} يرمون {بالغيب من مكان بعيد} أي بما غاب علمه عنهم غيبة بعيدة حيث قالوا في النبي ساحر، شاعر، كاهن، وفي القرآن سحر، شعر، كهانة.
quran:34:54 –

And prevention will be placed between them and what they desire, as was done with their kind before. Indeed, they were in disquieting denial.  

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. Meccan: it consists of 45 or 46 verses, revealed after ˹sūrat˺ al-Furqān.
القرآن:٣٤:٥٤ –

وَحِيلَ بَيْنَهُمْ وَبَيْنَ مَا يَشْتَهُونَ كَمَا فُعِلَ بِأَشْيَاعِهِمْ مِنْ قَبْلُ ۚ إِنَّهُمْ كَانُوا فِي شَكٍّ مُرِيبٍ  

{وحيلَ بينهم وبين ما يشتهون} من الإيمان، أي قبوله {كما فُعل بأشياعهم} أشباههم في الكفر {من قبل} أي قبلهم {إنهم كانوا في شك مريب} موقع في الريبة لهم فيما آمنوا به الآن ولم يعتدوّا بدلائله في الدنيا.