Saba: 1

Ayah

Word by Word

ٱلۡحَمۡدُ

All praises

لِلَّهِ

(be) to Allah

ٱلَّذِي

the One to Whom belongs

لَهُۥ

the One to Whom belongs

مَا

whatever

فِي

(is) in

ٱلسَّمَٰوَٰتِ

the heavens

وَمَا

and whatever

فِي

(is) in

ٱلۡأَرۡضِ

the earth

وَلَهُ

and for Him

ٱلۡحَمۡدُ

(are) all praises

فِي

ٱلۡأٓخِرَةِۚ

the Hereafter

وَهُوَ

And He

ٱلۡحَكِيمُ

(is) the All-Wise

ٱلۡخَبِيرُ

the All-Aware

Translation

Praise be to Allah, to Whom belong all things in the heavens and on earth: to Him be Praise in the Hereafter: and He is Full of Wisdom, acquainted with all things.

Tafsir

Tafsir of Surah Saba

All Praise and the Knowledge of the Unseen belong to Allah Alone

Allah tells us that all praise belongs to Him alone in this world and in the Hereafter, because He is the Giver and Bestower who gives to the people of this world and the Hereafter, the Sovereign and Controller of all.

Allah says:

وَهُوَ اللَّهُ لا إِلَـهَ إِلاَّ هُوَ لَهُ الۡحَمۡدُ فِى الاٍّولَى وَالاٌّخِرَةِ وَلَهُ الۡحُكۡمُ وَإِلَيۡهِ تُرۡجَعُونَ

And He is Allah; none has the right to be worshipped but He, all praise is due to Him (both) in the first (i.e., in this world) and in the last (the Hereafter). And for Him is the decision, and to Him shall you (all) be returned. (28:70)

Allah says:

الۡحَمۡدُ لِلَّهِ الَّذِي لَهُ مَا فِي السَّمَاوَاتِ وَمَا فِي الاَۡرۡضِ

All praise is due to Allah, to Whom belongs all that is in the heavens and all that is in the earth.

meaning, all of it is His dominion and is enslaved by Him and subject to His control, as Allah says:

وَإِنَّ لَنَا لَلٌّخِرَةَ وَالاٍّولَى

And truly, unto Us (belong) the last (Hereafter) and the first (this world). (92:13)

Then Allah says:

وَلَهُ الۡحَمۡدُ فِي الاۡخِرَةِ

His is all praise in the Hereafter,

for He is the One Who will be worshipped forever and praised for eternity.

وَهُوَ الۡحَكِيمُ

and He is the All-Wise, means, in all that He says and does, legislates and decrees.

الۡخَبِيرُ

the All-Aware.

from Whom nothing at all is hidden or concealed.

Malik narrated that Az-Zuhri said,

He is All-Aware of His creation, All-Wise in His commands.

Allah says

يَعۡلَمُ مَا يَلِجُ فِي الاَۡرۡضِ وَمَا يَخۡرُجُ مِنۡهَا

He knows that which goes into the earth and that which comes forth from it,

meaning, He knows the number of raindrops that sink into the depths of the earth, and the seeds that have been sown, and the things that are hidden in it, and He knows what comes forth from that, how many they are, how they grow and what they look like.

وَمَا يَنزِلُ مِنَ السَّمَاء

and that which descends from the heaven,

means, of raindrops and provision,

وَمَا يَعۡرُجُ فِيهَا

and that which ascends to it.

and what ascends into it, i.e., righteous deeds and other things.

وَهُوَ الرَّحِيمُ الۡغَفُورُ

And He is the Most Merciful, the Oft-Forgiving.

means, He is Most Merciful to His servants; He does not hasten to punish them, and He forgives the sins of those who repent to Him and put their trust in Him

The Hour will come so that each Person will be rewarded or punished in accordance with His Deeds

This is one of three Ayat -- there is no fourth -- where Allah commands His Messenger to swear by His Almighty Lord that the resurrection will surely come, because the stubborn followers of disbelief denied that it would happen.

- One of these Ayat is in Surah Yunus, where Allah says:

وَيَسۡتَنۡبِيُونَكَ أَحَقٌّ هُوَ قُلۡ إِى وَرَبِّى إِنَّهُ لَحَقٌّ وَمَأ أَنتُمۡ بِمُعۡجِزِينَ

And they ask you to inform them (saying):Is it true!

Say:Yes! By my Lord! It is the very truth! and you cannot escape it! (10:53)

- The second of these Ayat is this one:

وَقَالَ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا لَا تَأۡتِينَا السَّاعَةُ قُلۡ بَلَى وَرَبِّي لَتَأۡتِيَنَّكُمۡ

Those who disbelieve say:The Hour will not come to us.

Say:Yes, by my Lord, it will come to you....

- And the third of them appears in Surah At-Taghabun, where Allah says:

زَعَمَ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُواۡ أَن لَّن يُبۡعَثُواۡ قُلۡ بَلَى وَرَبِّى لَتُبۡعَثُنَّ ثُمَّ لَتُنَبَّوُنَّ بِمَا عَمِلۡتُمۡ وَذَلِكَ عَلَى اللَّهِ يَسِيرٌ

The disbelievers pretend that they will never be resurrected (for reckoning).

Say:Yes! By my Lord, you will certainly be resurrected, then you will be informed of what you did; and that is easy for Allah. (64:7)

And Allah says here:

قُلۡ بَلَى وَرَبِّي لَتَأۡتِيَنَّكُمۡ

Say:Yes, by my Lord, it will come to you...

Then Allah is described in a manner that affirms that:

عَالِمِ الۡغَيۡبِ لَاا يَعۡزُبُ عَنۡهُ مِثۡقَالُ ذَرَّةٍ فِي السَّمَاوَاتِ وَلَاا فِي الاۡاَرۡضِ وَلَاا أَصۡغَرُ مِن ذَلِكَ وَلَاا أَكۡبَرُ إِلاَّ فِي كِتَابٍ مُّبِينٍ

the All-Knower of the Unseen, not even the weight of a speck of dust or less than that or greater escapes His knowledge in the heavens or in the earth but it is in a Clear Book.

Mujahid and Qatadah said,

Nothing is hidden or concealed from Him.

In other words, everything is encompassed by His knowledge, and nothing is hidden from Him. Even though bones may be scattered and disintegrate, He knows where they have gone and where they have dispersed, then He will bring them back just as He created them in the first place, because He has knowledge of all things.

Then Allah tells us of His wisdom in re-creating bodies and bringing about the Hour, as He says:

لِيَجۡزِيَ الَّذِينَ امَنُوا وَعَمِلُوا الصَّالِحَاتِ أُوۡلَيِكَ لَهُم مَّغۡفِرَةٌ وَرِزۡقٌ كَرِيمٌ

وَالَّذِينَ سَعَوۡا فِي ايَاتِنَا مُعَاجِزِينَ

That He may recompense those who believe and do righteous good deeds. Those, theirs is forgiveness and generous provision.

But those who strive against Our Ayat to frustrate them,

meaning, those who try to turn others away from the path of Allah and who disbelieve His Messengers,

أُوۡلَيِكَ لَهُمۡ عَذَابٌ مِّن رِّجۡزٍ أَلِيمٌ

those, for them will be a severe painful torment.

This means, He will bestow His favor upon the blessed, who are the believers, and will punish the doomed, who are the disbelievers.

This is like the Ayah:

لَا يَسۡتَوِى أَصۡحَـبُ النَّارِ وَأَصۡحَـبُ الۡجَنَّةِ أَصۡحَـبُ الۡجَنَّةِ هُمُ الۡفَأيِزُونَ

Not equal are the dwellers of the Fire and the dwellers of the Paradise. It is the dwellers of Paradise that will be successful. (59:20)

أَمۡ نَجۡعَلُ الَّذِينَ ءَامَنُواۡ وَعَمِلُواۡ الصَّـلِحَـتِ كَالۡمُفۡسِدِينَ فِى الاٌّرۡضِ أَمۡ نَجۡعَلُ الۡمُتَّقِينَ كَالۡفُجَّارِ

Shall We treat those who believe and do righteous good deeds like those who cause mischief on the earth Or shall We treat those who have Taqwa as the evildoers. (38:28

وَيَرَى الَّذِينَ أُوتُوا الۡعِلۡمَ الَّذِي أُنزِلَ إِلَيۡكَ مِن رَّبِّكَ هُوَ الۡحَقَّ

And those who have been given knowledge see that what is revealed to you from your Lord is the truth,

This is another kind of wisdom, following on from the one before, which is that when those who believed in what was revealed to the Messengers see the onset of the Hour and how the righteous and the wicked will be rewarded and punished respectively, which they knew of beforehand in this world from the Books of Allah and which they are now seeing with their own eyes, they will say:

لَقَدۡ جَأءَتۡ رُسُلُ رَبِّنَا بِالۡحَقِّ

Indeed, the Messengers of our Lord did come with the truth. (7:43)

And it will be said:

هَذَا مَا وَعَدَ الرَّحۡمـنُ وَصَدَقَ الۡمُرۡسَلُونَ

This is what the Most Gracious had promised, and the Messengers spoke truth! (36:52)

لَقَدۡ لَبِثۡتُمۡ فِى كِتَـبِ اللَّهِ إِلَى يَوۡمِ الۡبَعۡثِ فَهَـذَا يَوۡمُ الۡبَعۡثِ

Indeed you have stayed according to the decree of Allah, until the Day of Resurrection; so this is the Day of Resurrection (30:56)

وَيَرَى الَّذِينَ أُوتُوا الۡعِلۡمَ الَّذِي أُنزِلَ إِلَيۡكَ مِن رَّبِّكَ هُوَ الۡحَقَّ وَيَهۡدِي إِلَى صِرَاطِ الۡعَزِيزِ الۡحَمِيدِ

And those who have been given knowledge see that what is revealed to you from your Lord is the truth, and that it guides to the path of the Exalted in might, Owner of all praise.

The Exalted in might is the One Who is All-Powerful, Whom none can overwhelm or resist, but He subjugates and controls all things. The Owner of All praise is the One Who, in all His words, deeds, laws and decrees, is deserving of praise, may He be glorified and exalted.