Sura 34: Sheba (Sabaa)
Number of verses: 54
In the name of God, Most Gracious, Most Merciful
1. Praise be to GOD - to whom belongs everything in the heavens and the earth; all praise is also due to Him in the Hereafter. He is the Most Wise, the Cognizant.
2. He knows everything that goes into the earth, and everything that comes out of it, and everything that comes down from the sky, and everything that climbs into it. He is the Most Merciful, the Forgiving.
3. Those who disbelieve have said, “The Hour will never come to pass!” Say, “Absolutely - by my Lord - it will most certainly come to you. He is the Knower of the future. Not even the equivalent of an atom's weight is hidden from Him, be it in the heavens or the earth. Not even smaller than that, or larger (is hidden). All are in a profound record.”
4. Most certainly, He will reward those who believe and lead a righteous life. These have deserved forgiveness and a generous provision.
5. As for those who constantly challenge our revelations, they have incurred retribution of a painful humiliation.
6. It is evident to those who are blessed with knowledge that this revelation from your Lord to you is the truth, and that it guides to the path of the Almighty, the Most Praiseworthy.
7. Those who disbelieve have
said, “Let us show you a man who tells you that after you
are torn apart you will be recreated anew.
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8. “Either he fabricated lies about GOD, or he is crazy.” Indeed, those who disbelieve in the Hereafter have incurred the worst retribution; they have gone far astray.
9. Have they not seen all the things in front of them and behind them, in the heaven and the earth? If we willed, we could have caused the earth to swallow them, or caused masses to fall on them from the sky. This should be a sufficient proof for every obedient servant.
David and Solomon
10. We endowed David with
blessings from us: “O mountains, submit with him, and you
too, O birds.” We softened the iron for him.
11. “You may make shields that fit perfectly, and work righteousness. Whatever you do, I am Seer thereof.”
The First Oil Field
12. To Solomon we committed the
wind at his disposal, traveling one month coming and one month
going. And we caused a spring of oil to gush out for him. Also,
the jinns worked for him, by his Lord's leave. Any one of them
who disregarded our commands, we subjected him to a severe
retribution.
13. They made for him anything he wanted - niches, statues, deep pools, and heavy cooking pots. O family of David, work (righteousness) to show your appreciation. Only a few of My servants are appreciative.
Jinns' Knowledge is Limited
14. When the appointed time for
his death came, they had no clue that he had died. Not until one
of the animals tried to eat his staff, and he fell down. The
jinns then realized that he was dead. They thus realized that if
they really knew the unseen, they would have stopped working so
hard as soon as he died.
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15. Sheba's homeland used to be a marvel, with two gardens on the right and the left. Eat from your Lord's provisions, and be appreciative of Him - good land, and a forgiving Lord.
16. They turned away and, consequently, we poured upon them a disastrous flood, and we substituted their two gardens into two gardens of bad tasting fruits, thorny plants, and a skimpy harvest.
17. We thus requited them for their disbelief. Do we not requite only the disbelievers?
18. We placed between them and the communities that we blessed other oases, and we secured the journey between them: “Travel therein days and nights in complete security.”
19. But they (turned unappreciative and) challenged: “Our Lord, we do not care if You increase the distance of our journeys (without any stations).” They thus wronged their own souls. Consequently, we made them history, and scattered them into small communities throughout the land. This should provide lessons for those who are steadfast, appreciative.
Satan Claims the Majority
20. Satan found them readily
fulfilling his expectations. They followed him, except a few
believers.
The Objective: Do We Believe
in the Hereafter?*
21. He never had any power over
them. But we thus distinguish those who believe in the Hereafter
from those who are doubtful about it. Your Lord is in full
control of all things.
22. Say, “Implore the
idols you have set up beside GOD. They do
not possess as much as a single atom in the heavens, or the
earth. They possess no partnership therein, nor does He permit
them to be His assistants.”
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*34:21 The criteria that inform us
whether or not we believe in the Hereafter are in 6:113, 17:45,
& 39:45. These three criteria bring out our true convictions,
regardless of our utterances.
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No Intercession
23. Intercession with Him will
be in vain, unless it coincides with His will. When their minds
are finally settled down, and they ask, “What did your Lord
say,” they will say, “The truth.” He is the Most
High, the Most Great.
24. Say, “Who provides for you, from the heavens and the earth?” Say, “GOD,” and “Either we or you are guided, or have gone far astray.”
25. Say, “You are not responsible for our crimes, nor are we responsible for what you do.”
26. Say, “Our Lord will gather us all together before Him, then He will judge between us equitably. He is the Judge, the Omniscient.”
27. Say, “Show me the idols you have set up as partners with Him!” Say, “No; He is the One GOD, the Almighty, Most Wise.”
God's Messenger of the
Covenant
28. We have sent you (O Rashad)
to all the people, a bearer of good news, as well as a warner,
but most people do not know.
29. They challenge,
“When will this promise come to pass, if you are
truthful?”
30. Say, “You have a
specific time, on a specific day, that you cannot delay by one
hour, nor advance.”
31. Those who disbelieve
have said, “We will not believe in this Quran, nor in the
previous scriptures.” If you could only envision these
transgressors when they stand before their Lord! They will argue
with one another back and forth. The followers will tell their
leaders, “If it were not for you, we would have been
believers.”
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*34:28 As detailed in Appendix 2,
the name of this messenger is mathematically coded into the Quran
as “Rashad Khalifa.” By adding the numerical value of
the name “Rashad” (505), the numerical value of the
name “Khalifa” (725), the sura number (34), and the
verse number (28) we obtain a total that is a multiple of 19. The
19 based mathematical miracle of the Quran was revealed through
Rashad Khalifa. (505+725+34+28=1292=19x68). More information is
given in 5:19 and its footnote.
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On the Day of Resurrection
32. The leaders will say to
those who followed them, “Are we the ones who diverted you
from the guidance after it came to you? No; it is you who were
wicked.”
33. The followers will say to their leaders, “It was you who schemed night and day, then commanded us to be unappreciative of GOD, and to set up idols to rank with Him.” They will be ridden with remorse, when they see the retribution, for we will place shackles around the necks of those who disbelieved. Are they not justly requited for what they did?
Every Time!
34. Every time we sent a warner
to a community, the leaders of that community said, “We
reject the message you are sent with.”
35. They also said, “We are more powerful, with more money and children, and we will not be punished.”
36. Say, “My Lord is the One who controls all provisions; He grants the provisions to whomever He wills, or reduces them, but most people do not know.”
37. It is not your money or your children that bring you closer to us. Only those who believe and lead a righteous life will receive the reward for their works, multiplied manifold. In the abode of the Paradise they will live in perfect peace.
38. As for those who consistently challenge our revelations, they will abide in retribution.
39. Say, “My Lord is
the One who controls all provisions; He increases the provisions
for whomever He chooses from among His servants, or reduces them.
Anything you spend (in the cause of God), He will reward you for
it; He is the Best Provider.”
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40. On the Day when He summons them all, He will say to the angels, “Did these people worship you?”
41. They will answer, “Be You glorified. You are our Lord and Master, not them. Instead, they were worshipping the jinns; most of them were believers therein.”
42. On that Day, you possess no power to help or harm one another, and we will say to the transgressors, “Taste the retribution of the Hell that you used to deny.”
Mathematical Miracle of the
Quran
43. When our proofs were
recited to them, perfectly clear, they said, “This is simply
a man who wants to divert you from the way your parents are
worshipping.” They also said, “These are fabricated
lies.” Those who disbelieved also said about the truth that
came to them, “This is obviously a magic.”
44. We did not give them any other books to study, nor did we send to them before you another warner.
45. Those before them disbelieved, and even though they did not see one-tenth of (the miracle) we have given to this generation, when they disbelieved My messengers, how severe was My retribution!
46. Say, “I ask you to do one thing: Devote yourselves to GOD, in pairs or as individuals, then reflect. Your friend is not crazy. He is a manifest warner to you, just before the advent of a terrible retribution.” *
47. Say, “I do not ask you for any wage; you can keep it. My wage comes only from GOD. He witnesses all things.”
48. Say, “My Lord causes the truth to prevail. He is the Knower of all secrets.”
49. Say, “The truth has come; while falsehood can neither initiate anything, nor repeat it.”
50. Say, “If I go astray, I go astray because of my own shortcomings. And if I am guided, it is because of my Lord's inspiration. He is Hearer, Near.”
51. If you could only see them when the great terror strikes them; they cannot escape then, and they will be taken away forcibly.
52. They will then say,
“We now believe in it,” but it will be far too late.
53. They have rejected it in
the past; they have decided instead to uphold conjecture and
guesswork.*
54.
Consequently, they were deprived of everything they longed for.
This is the same fate as their counterparts in the previous
generations. They harbored too many doubts.
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*34:45 The great miracles given to
Moses and Jesus were limited in time and place; they were
witnessed by a few people who happened to live in those places in
those days. But the mathematical miracle of the Quran is
perpetual (see 74:30-35 and Appendix 1).
*34:46 By placing the
gematrical value of "Rashad" (505) next to the value of
"Khalifa" (725), then the sura number (34), and the
verse number (46), we get 505,725,34,46 = 19 x 266171234.
*34:53 People of all
religions tend to forsake the word of God and uphold the words of
men. The Jews and the Muslims uphold the Mishnah (Hadith) and
Gemarrah (Sunna), while the Christians uphold a trinity invented
by the Nicene Conference, 325 years after Jesus.
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