Surah Saba: Thematic English Translation (Mustafa Çevik)

Allah, who created all that is in the heavens and on the earth, established their order, keeps them alive bound to their laws, and is their true Owner, is the only God worthy of thanks and praise. In the Hereafter too He alone will be praised. Every judgment of Allah is absolutely right; He does everything in its proper place, and He is aware of everything.

Allah knows all that enters the earth and all that comes out of it, all that rises to the sky and all that comes down from it. And Allah is most merciful, compassionate, and forgiving toward the believers.

Say to those who deny the Resurrection and the Day of Reckoning: “By my Lord, who knows the truth of all that concerns the past, the future, and the unseen, the Resurrection and the Day of Reckoning will surely come. Everything in the heavens and on the earth, whether as small as an atom or great, all that is and all that happens, is within Allah’s knowledge and on record. On That Day every person will face what he did.”

When the Day of Reckoning comes, those who believed in Allah’s call and did their utmost to live what their faith requires will be rewarded with the finest of blessings.

For those who refuse to live by the system of life that is Allah’s call, and try to render it ineffective, there is a most severe, agonizing punishment.

O Prophet! Those of the People of the Book who have knowledge of the truths that remain in the books they hold understand that what is made known through the Quran is your Lord’s call to people to the truth.

Those who have conditioned themselves to cover up the truth mockingly say to one another, “Look at this man who says that after you have died, been broken into pieces, and ground to dust, you will be raised again and called to account; who knows what else of this kind he will say!”

And then they go on to say: “This man is either a liar who attributes his own inventions to Allah, or a madman who has lost his mind.” No, the truth is not at all as they say; in fact, those who do not wish to believe in the Day of the Hereafter, because they do not want to face the Day of Reckoning, keep floundering in the swamps they are stuck in and do not wish to hear the truth.

Do they never look at the sky that surrounds them on every side, at the earth, and at all that is between them, at how We govern them through the order We have established, and reflect? If We willed, We could make the earth swallow them up, or rain stones down on them from the sky. There are lessons in these verses for those who use their reason and reflect, and who grasp Allah as He deserves.

When David, seeing and reflecting on how We govern what We have created in the sky and on the earth, grasped the greatness of his Lord’s knowledge and power and held fast to His call wholeheartedly, We granted him prophethood and kingship.

The way the mountains and the birds lived in submission to the order and laws their Lord had made for them was, as it were, a source of inspiration for David’s own submission, and encouraged him in it.

We taught David to melt iron and master it, and taught him to make armor, neither too thin nor too thick, to protect the human body. Then We made known to him that he should use what he made, and would make, in keeping with Allah’s good pleasure. O believers! Whatever you do, never let slip from your minds that Allah is aware of what you do.

To Solomon, David’s son, who followed in his footsteps, We taught how to make use of the winds, and placed them at his command. Thanks to this knowledge, they would go in a single day to places that had taken a month to reach, and return in a single day from places that had taken a month to return from. We also granted Solomon the knowledge of melting copper and making use of it. Moreover, We made subject to Solomon, and set to his service, some foreigners, clever as jinn, hard to control, skilled in crafts, yet with devilish traits. Whenever they rose up in revolt, they were struck with a painful penalty.

These built for Solomon temples, fortresses, ships, great cauldrons fixed to the ground, and basins like bowls, and they developed cities.

We said to Solomon’s people: “O family of David! Use the many blessings granted you in keeping with Allah’s good pleasure, and so give thanks to your Lord.” Sadly, few among His servants give thanks to their Lord.

We decreed Solomon’s death while he was sitting leaning on his staff. Until a woodworm had gnawed through his staff, the staff had broken, and Solomon had toppled over on his face, those people working under his command, clever as jinn and devilish in nature, did not notice his death. Had these people who were subject to him known the unseen, they would have learned of his death sooner, stopped working, and sought to free themselves from bondage.

There are lessons too in the homeland and the life of the people of Sheba, whom Allah endowed with countless blessings: the vineyards and gardens adorned with fruits of every kind in the valley, green on both sides, were, as it were, saying to them by the mute eloquence of their very state: as you enjoy your Lord’s blessings, reflect on the reason for your creation and for your being endowed with these blessings. But despite all these blessings they too turned away from the call, were ungrateful, and opposed it. So We sent upon them a great flood that broke their dams and destroyed their gardens. We turned their lovely vineyards and gardens into thickets of bitter fruit, ruins in which a few lote trees (sidr) remained.

Thus did We punish them for their ingratitude toward the blessings We had bestowed. We punish none but those who are ungrateful.

Yet before this destruction We had had towns built, close to one another and within sight of one another, between the people of Sheba and the cities We had made fruitful and blessed, and had said to them: travel back and forth by night and by day in ease and safety, benefit from one another, and turn to what is right. But they turned away from these opportunities and began to say, “Our Lord, put distance between us; lengthen the distances between us,” and so wronged themselves. Yet by benefiting from the blessings of being near one another, they could have kept one another from ingratitude toward their Lord. But they turned away from this, and so We punished them with a punishment that became the stuff of legend, and scattered them far and wide.

In the story of the people of Sheba there are lessons for those who wish to take counsel. Only those who reflect on the blessings their Lord has given and feel responsible toward Allah learn from it.

Thus Iblis’s oath that he would lead the human being astray came true for the people of Sheba too. Indeed, all of them except a very few believers followed Iblis.

In truth Iblis has no power to compel people. The reason for his request and for Our giving him the opportunity is to bring to light, and tell apart, those who believe in Allah’s call and the Day of the Hereafter and those who are in doubt about it and turn their backs, and to make them witnesses over one another. Your Lord sees and watches over everything.

Say: “Go on, keep pleading with those you take as gods besides Allah and asking them for help! But know well that, just as they own nothing in the heavens or on the earth, so they have no share (partnership) in their creation, or in the establishing of their order, their binding to laws, and their governance; and Allah has taken no one as a helper.”

When Allah has given no one permission to intercede for another, how can any benefit be hoped for from anyone’s intercession?

When the terror that comes with the arrival of the Last Hour gives way to the Day of Reckoning, and the hearts of those who associated partners with Allah calm down after that terror, the angels will ask them: “What did your Lord command you, and invite you to, in your worldly life?” And they will say: “Our Lord called us to live by the system of life that is the reason He created us. Now we understand that what we should have followed was the call of our Exalted Lord.”

O Prophet! Ask them: “Who provides for you from the heavens and the earth?” And say: “It is Allah; now just think: which befits a human being, to follow His call, or to live benefiting from His blessings while being ungrateful?”

Say: “You will not be questioned about our crimes, nor will we be questioned about yours! Our Lord will gather us all together on the Day of Reckoning and judge between us with justice.” Allah alone is just in every judgment.

Say: “Think about what those you take as gods besides Allah have created, what they have the power to do, and what hardship that may befall you they can remove; and if there is anything, show it! No, they have no such quality and no right to dispose of you; they have no power over anything. The truth is that absolute power, knowledge, and supremacy belong to Allah alone, the Lord of all the worlds.”

O Prophet! We have sent you to all humanity, to protect and save them from shirk and disbelief, to invite them to live the Allah-centered life that is the reason for their creation, and to give good news to those who turn to Him. But sadly most people do not heed the warnings; what is more, mocking you and the punishment they have been warned of, they say: “If what you say is true, then tell us when this punishment you threaten us with will befall us.”

Say to them: “That Day, whose time my Lord alone has set and knows, will come, and everyone will surely face his reckoning. You can neither bring its time forward nor postpone it by a single moment.”

Those who have conditioned themselves to deny the truth say, “We do not believe that either this Quran or the books before it were sent from Allah.” If only you could see those who say this when, on the Day of Reckoning, they stand meekly with hands clasped before their Lord, blaming one another! On That Day those who were weak and ruled over in their worldly lives will say to their leaders, who associated partners with Allah and held power, “It was you who brought us here and to this state. Had you not led us astray, we too would have been among the believers.” And their arrogant, unruly rulers will say to them: “Did you want to follow the call made in Allah’s name, or did you follow it, and we turned you away by force? No, you too were inclined to denial, and so you used your choice in that direction; so look for the fault in yourselves.”

Thereupon the weak will now say to their leaders, who had insolently grown arrogant and given themselves airs: “Night and day you laid traps to draw us away from Allah and make us your slaves.” At last, when both groups see the punishment of Hell awaiting them, they will feel deep in their hearts their remorse for not following the call made in Allah’s name; but on That Day their remorse will be of no use to them.

We will put collars of red-hot iron around the necks of those leaders who associated partners with Allah and of those who followed them. This penalty is the just recompense for their ingratitude and rebellion against Allah.

Whenever We sent a prophet to a community, inviting them to the system of life that is the reason for their creation, its leading figures, spoiled by prosperity and sunk in pleasure-seeking, opposed him and said to the Prophet and those with him: “We are far superior to you, and of greater worth, in wealth and property, children, and standing. And so we do not think we will be punished either.” Say to them: “My Lord tests His servants and brings them to light by giving abundant provision to whom He wills and restricting it for whom He wills; but most people do not wish to understand this.”

O people! It is neither your wealth, nor your numbers, nor your positions that will bring you near to Allah. Whoever believes in Allah, takes Him alone as God, and makes every effort to live the system of life that is the reason for his creation and to keep it alive, such people will be rewarded with many times what they did, and will live happily, in safety and peace, in the mansions of Paradise.

But those who turn their backs on the call made in Allah’s name, and try to make it look corrupt, will be punished with punishment for what they did.

Say: “My Lord gives provision in abundance to whom He wills of His servants, and in measure to whom He wills. And whoever spends from what he has been given in the way of Allah’s call, Allah will replace what he spent. Allah is the best of providers.”

On the Day of Reckoning Allah will bring together the angels and those who sought refuge in the angels’ help in their worldly lives, and will ask them, “Were these the ones who took you as gods alongside Allah and, seeking your help, associated partners with Allah?” And the angels will answer: “Far be it! We could never have had the power to do what they expected of us. Nor can they be our friends; our Friend is You. They fell for Satan’s whispering, walked blindly into his trap, and became tools of his game.”

Thereupon Allah will say to those who associated partners with Him and denied the truth: “No one among you who are created can benefit another, nor has the power to ward off a harm that may come. Now taste the punishment of Hell, in which you did not wish to believe!”

These people had opposed the Prophet, who invited them in Allah’s name with clear verses, saying: “This man wants to tear us away from our forefathers’ system of life and set up another system in its place, and what he says is nothing but his own invention. The Quran is a fabrication made up of bewitching words he attributes to Allah.”

Yet We sent them no book stating that their systems of shirk, and the morality bound up with them, were right, from which they might have learned and so be defending it. Nor could they have heard it from a prophet We sent before you.

Most of those who came and went before these polytheists also rejected the call made in Allah’s name and accused their prophets of lying. These people do not have even a tenth of the blessings We gave those before them. In the end Our punishment of them was most severe.

O Prophet! Say to those who turn their backs on the truth: “Whether when you come together or when you are alone with yourselves, search your conscience and think it over. Then you will understand that I am a companion of yours who has been appointed to you as a prophet, and that there is no trace of madness in me. I am only a messenger warning you, so that you may not suffer a severe punishment. And I expect no wage or anything else from you in return for this duty of conveying the message; it is Allah who will give me my reward. He sees and knows everything.”

O Prophet, say: “If we act upon the verses our Lord has made known, falsehood will vanish. He knows truths that no one knows.”

Say: “Now the divine truth that is the reason for your creation has come. What is merely human is doomed to fade away.”

Say: “If I stray from the truths made known, I will have wronged and harmed myself.

Only if I follow my Lord’s call will I have found the right path. Allah is nearer to His servant than his jugular vein, and He hears everything.”

If only you could see how those who stopped their ears to Allah’s verses and did not use their reason shrink with fear when they are seized in a tight grip on the Day of Resurrection, and how wretched they are, finding no place to flee! On That Day they will say: “We believe in the call the prophets made in Allah’s name.” But the world, where they should really have declared their faith, now lies far behind them. Their believing today will be of no use to them at all.

Yet they had turned their backs on the truth in deep doubt and ignored the unseen. Now, like those before them, they will beg to be sent back to the world in the desire to turn to Him; but now an impassable barrier has been placed between them and a return to the world.