Surah 34. Saba

Say: "Our Sustainer will bring us all together [on Judgment Day], and then He will lay open the truth between us, in justice-for He alone is the One who opens all truth, the All-Knowing!"

  - Mohammad Asad

Say: "Our Rabb will bring us all together, then He will rightly judge between us. He is the Judge Who knows everything."

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Say: Our Lord will bring us all together, then He will judge between us with truth. He is the All knowing Judge.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

Say: "Point out to me those [beings] that you have joined with Him [in your minds] as partners [in His divinity]! Nay-nay, but He [alone] is God, the Almighty, the Wise!"

  - Mohammad Asad

Say: "Show me those whom you have made associate gods with Him. Nay! By no means can you do it. Allah Alone is the Almighty, the Wise".

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Say: Show me those whom ye have joined unto Him as partners. Nay (ye dare not)! For He is Allah, the Mighty, the Wise.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

NOW [as for thee, O Muhammad,] We have not sent thee otherwise than to mankind at large, to be a herald of glad tidings and a warner; but most people do not understand [this],

  - Mohammad Asad

O Prophet, We have sent you to the entire mankind, to give them good news and forewarn them, but most men do not know.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

And We have not sent thee (O Muhammad) save as a bringer of good tidings and a warner unto all mankind; but most of mankind know not.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

and so they ask, "When is this promise [of resurrection and judgment] to be fulfilled? [Answer this, O you who believe in it,] if you are men of truth!"³⁶

  - Mohammad Asad

The Qur'anic answer to this ironic question is found in 7:187 .

They ask you: "When will this promise of resurrection be fulfilled, if you are telling the truth?"

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

And they say: When is this promise (to be fulfilled) if ye are truthful?

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

Say: "There has been appointed for you a Day which you can neither delay nor advance by a single moment."³⁷

  - Mohammad Asad

For my rendering of sa'ah (lit., "hour") as "a single moment", see surah {7}, note [26].

Tell them: "For you the appointment of a day is fixed, which you can neither postpone for a moment nor bring it early."

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Say (O Muhammad): Yours is the promise of a Day which ye cannot postpone nor hasten by an hour.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

And [yet,] those who are bent on denying the truth do say, "We shall never believe in this Qur'an, and neither in whatever there still remains of earlier revelations!"³⁸ But if thou couldst only see [how it will be on Judgment Day,] when these evildoers shall be made to stand before their Sustainer, hurling reproaches back and forth at one another! Those [of them] who had been weak [on earth] will say unto those who had gloried in their arrogance:³⁹ "Had it not been for you, we would certainly have been believers!"

  - Mohammad Asad

For the rendering of ma bayna yadayhi, in relation to the Qur'an, as "whatever there still remains of earlier revelations", see surah {3}, note [3]. As is evident from the preceding and subsequent verses, the rejection by "those who are bent on denying the truth" of all revelation is motivated by their refusal to believe in resurrection and God's judgment, and, hence, to admit the validity of absolute moral standards as postulated by every higher religion.

I.e., as the "intellectual leaders" of their community.

The disbelievers say: "We shall never believe in this Qur'an, nor in the scriptures which came before it." If you could only see when these wrongdoers will be made to stand before their Rabb, tossing accusing words on one another! Those who had been despised as weaklings will say to the arrogant: "If it were not for you, we would certainly have been believers."

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

And those who disbelieve say: We believe not in this Qur'an nor in that which was before it; but oh, if thou couldst see, when the wrong doers are brought up before their Lord, how they cast the blame one to another; how those who were despised (in the earth) say unto those who were proud: But for you, we should have been believers.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

[And] those who were wont to glory in their arrogance will say unto those who had been weak: "Why - did we keep you [forcibly] from following the right path after it had become obvious to you?⁴⁰ Nay, it was but you [yourselves] who were guilty!"

  - Mohammad Asad

Lit., "did we keep you away from guidance after it had come to you?"

The arrogant will say to those despised weaklings: "Did we block you off from guidance when it came to you? Nay! Rather you yourselves were guilty."

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

And those who were proud say unto those who were despised: Did we drive you away from the guidance after it had come unto you? Nay, but ye were guilty.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

But those who had been weak will say unto those who had gloried in their arrogance: "Nay, [what kept us away was your] devising of false arguments, night and day,⁴¹ [against God's messages - as you did] when you persuaded us to blaspheme against God and to claim that there are powers that could rival Him !⁴² And when they see the suffering [that awaits them], they will [all] be unable to express [the full depth of] their remorse:⁴³ for We shall have put shackles around the necks of those who had been bent on denying the truth:⁴⁴ [and] will this be aught but a [just] requital for what they were doing?

  - Mohammad Asad

I.e., always. The term makr (lit., "a scheme" or "scheming") has here the connotation of "devising false arguments" against something that is true: in this case, as is shown in the first paragraph of verse {31} above, against God's messages (cf. a similar use of this term in 10:21 and 35:43 ; see also 86:15 ).

Lit., "[that we should] give God compeers (andad)". For an explanation of this phrase and my rendering of it, see surah {2}, note [13].

For a justification of this rendering of the phrase 'asarru 'n-nadamah, see surah {10}, note [77].

As pointed out by several of the classical commentators (e.g., Zamakhshari, Razi and Baydawi) in their explanations of similar phrases occurring in 13:5 and 36:8 , the "shackles" (aghlal) which these sinners carry, as it were, "around their necks" in life, and will carry on Judgment Day, are a metaphor of the enslavement of their souls to the false values to which they had surrendered, and of the suffering which will be caused by that surrender.

Those despised weaklings will say to the arrogant: "No! It was you who plotted day and night, bidding us to disbelieve in Allah and to set up equals with Him," - They will feel ashamed once they see the punishment, and We shall put yokes on the necks of those disbelievers; can there be any other reward except for what they did?

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Those who were despised say unto those who were proud: Nay but (it was your) scheming night and day, when ye commanded us to disbelieve in Allah and set up rivals unto Him. And they are filled with remorse when they behold the doom; and We place carcans on the necks of those who disbelieved. Are they requited aught save what they did?

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

For [thus it is:] whenever We sent a warner to any community, those of its people who had lost themselves entirely in the pursuit of pleasures⁴⁵ would declare, "Behold, we deny that there is any truth in [what you claim to be] your message!"-

  - Mohammad Asad

The term mutraf denotes "one who indulges in the pursuit of pleasures", i.e., to the exclusion of all moral considerations: cf. note [147] on 11:116 .

Whenever We have sent a Warner to a town, its wealthy residents have said: "We surely disbelieve in what you are sent with".

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

And We sent not unto any township a warner, but its pampered ones declared: Lo! we are disbelievers in that which ye bring unto Us.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

and they would add, "Richer [than you] are we in wealth and in children, and [so] we are not going to be made to suffer!"⁴⁶

  - Mohammad Asad

Implying, firstly, that the only thing that really counts in life is the enjoyment of material benefits; and, secondly, that a materially successful life is, by itself, an evidence of one's being "on the right way".

They say: "We have more wealth and children, which indicates that our gods are happy with us so we shall never be punished."

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

And they say: We are more (than you) in wealth and children. We are not the punished!

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

Say: "Behold, my Sustainer grants abundant sustenance, or gives it in scant measure, unto whomever He wills: but most men do not understand [God's ways]."⁴⁷

  - Mohammad Asad

Sc., "and foolishly regard riches and poverty as indications of God's favour or disfavour". Indirectly, this statement refutes the belief held by many people in the present as well as in the past that material prosperity is a justification of all human endeavour.

O Prophet tell them: "Surely my Rabb gives abundantly to whom He wills and sparingly to whom He pleases, but most people do not understand this."

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Say (O Muhammad): Lo! my Lord enlargeth the provision for whom He will and narroweth it (for whom He will). But most of mankind know not.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

For, it is neither your riches nor your children that can bring you nearer to Us: only he who attains to faith and does what is right and just [comes near unto Us]; and it is [such as] these whom multiple recompense awaits for all that they have done; and it is they who shall dwell secure in the mansions [of paradise] -

  - Mohammad Asad

It is neither your wealth nor your children which bring you closer to Us even one jot, but those who believe and do good deeds; for them, there will be a double reward for their deeds and in high mansions shall they live in peace.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

And it is not your wealth nor your children that will bring you near unto Us, but he who believeth and doeth good (he draweth near). As for such, theirs will be twofold reward for what they did, and they will dwell secure in lofty halls.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

whereas all who strive against Our messages, seeking to defeat their purpose, shall be given over to suffering.

  - Mohammad Asad

As for those who strive in opposing Our revelations, they shall be brought for punishment.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

And as for those who strive against Our revelations, challenging, they will be brought to the doom.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

Say: "Behold, my Sustainer grants abundant sustenance, or gives it in scant measure, unto whomever He wills of His servants;⁴⁸ and whatever it be that you spend on others, He [always] replaces it:⁴⁹ for He is the best of providers."

  - Mohammad Asad

I.e., God's promise to the righteous that they would attain to happiness in the life to come neither precludes nor implies their being wealthy or poor in this world.

I.e., either with worldly goods, or with inner contentment, or with spiritual merit (Zamakhshari).

O Prophet tell them: "Surely my Rabb gives abundantly to whom He pleases and sparingly to whom He wills. Whatever you spend in charity, He will pay you back. He is the best of those who provide sustenance.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Say: Lo! my Lord enlargeth the provision for whom He will of His bondmen, and narroweth (it) for him. And whatsoever ye spend (for good) He replaceth it. And He is the Best of Providers.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

And [as for those who now deny the truth,] one Day He will gather them all together, and will ask the angels, "Was it you that they were wont to worship?"⁵⁰

  - Mohammad Asad

This allegorical "question" - allegorical, because God is omniscient and has no need to "ask" - implies that many of "those who deny the truth" of God's messages delude themselves into believing that they are, nevertheless, worshipping spiritual forces, here comprised in the term angels".

One Day He will gather them all together and ask the angels: "Was it you that these people used to worship?"

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

And on the day when He will gather them all together, He will say Unto the angels: Did these worship you?

  - Marmaduke Pickthall