Sheba (Saba)

In the name of Allah, Gracious, Merciful.

¹Praise 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.

²He knows all that goes into the earth and all that comes out thereof; all that comes down from the sky and all that ascends thereto: and He is the most merciful, the often forgiving.

Bismillahi Rahmani Rahim

¹Alhamdu lil lahil lazi lahu ma fi samawati wa ma fil ardi wa lahul hamdu fil ahirah wa huwal lakimul habir

²Yalamu ma yaliju fil ardi wa ma yahruju minha wa ma yanzilu minas samai wa ma yaruju fiha wa huwar rahimul gafur

[Commentary continues below.]

³And the unbelievers say “Never to us will come the hour”: say “No, but most surely by my Lord it will come upon you, by Him who knows the unseen, from whom is not hidden the least little atom in the heavens or on earth: nor is there anything less than that or greater but is in the record perspicuous:

⁴That He may reward those who believe and work deeds of righteousness: for such is forgiveness and a sustenance most generous.”

⁵And those who strive against Our signs to frustrate them, for such will be a penalty, a punishment most humiliating.

⁶And those to whom knowledge has come see that the revelation sent down to you from your Lord that is the truth and that it guides to the path of the exalted, worthy of all praise.

⁷The unbelievers say: “Shall we point out to you a man that will tell you when you are all scattered to pieces in disintegration, that you shall then be raised in a new creation?

³Wa qalallazina kafaru la tatinas saah qul bala wa rab bi la tatiyanakum alimil gaib la yazubu anhu mitsqalu zar ratin fissamawati wa la filardi wa la asgaru min zalika wa la akbaru illa fi kitabim mubin

⁴Liyajziyal lazina amanu wa amilis salihat ulaika lahum magfiratuw wa rijqun karim

⁵Wallazina saau fi ayatina muajizina ulaika lahum azabum mirrijzin alim

⁶Wa yaral lazina utul ilmal lazi unzila ilaika mir rabbika huwal haqqu wa yahdi ila siratil azizil hamid

⁷Wa qalal lazina kafaru hal nadulukum ala rajuliyyunab bi ukum iza muz ziqtum kul la mumaz zaqin inakum lafi halqin jadid

[Commentary continues below.]

⁸“Has he invented a falsehood against Allah or has a spirit seized him?” No, it is those who believe not in the hereafter that are in real penalty and in farthest error.

⁹Do they not see what is before them and behind them ,of the sky and the earth? If We wished We could cause the earth to swallow them up or cause a piece of the sky to fall upon them. Verily, in this is a sign for every devotee that turns to Allah.

¹⁰And We bestowed grace on David from Ourselves: “O you mountains! sing back the praises of Allah with him! and you birds also! and We made the iron soft for Him.¹

¹¹“Make you coats of mail balancing well the rings of chain armor and work righteousness; for be sure I see clearly all that ye do.”

⁸Aftara alallahi kaziban am bihi jin nah balil lazina la yuminuna bil ahirati fil azabi wad dalalil baid

⁹Afalam yarau ila ma baina aidihim wa ma halfahum minassamai walard in nasa nahsif bihimul arda au nusqit alaihim kisafam minas sama inna fi zalika la ayatallikulli abdim munib

¹⁰Wa laqad ataina Dawuda minna fadla ya jibalu aw wibi maahu wat tair wa alan na lahul hadid

¹¹Animal sabigatiw wa qaddir fissardi wamalu saliha inni bima tamaluna basir

1. This is a misunderstanding of Psalm 19:1: The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork. Here we are told that the mountains and the birds were told to sing God’s praise with David. In the Psalm, David was pointing out how all creation were made for to show forth the glory of God. Muhammad many times quotes the signs in the seasons or the signs in some of God’s work, as in verse nine (9). But the mountains and birds singing God’s praise is imagined, not real. God is seen in creation does not mean that one can analyze and find God in the water, or the forest is not to be taken literally.

[Commentary continues below.]

¹²And to Solomon We made the wind obedient: its early morning stride was a month’s journey and its evening stride was a month’s journey; and We made a font of molten brass to flow for him; and there were jinns that worked in front of him by the leave of his Lord, and if any of them turned aside from Our command We made Him taste of the penalty of the blazing fire.²

¹³They worked for him as he desired making arches, images, and basins as large as reservoirs and cauldrons fixed: “Work, you sons of David with thanks! But few of My servants are grateful!”

¹²Wa liSulaimanar riha guduw wuha sahruw warawahuha sar wa asalna lahu ainal qitr wa minal jin ni mayyamalu baina yadaihi bi izni rabbih wa may yazig minhum an amrina nuziqu min azabis sair

¹³Yamaluna lahu ma yasya umim mahariba wa tamatsila wa jifanin kaljawabi wa qudurir rasiyat tmalu ala Dawuda sukra wa qalilum min ibadiyas sakur

2. Please refer to Qur’an 27:17.

[Commentary continues below.]

¹⁴Then when We decreed his death, nothing showed them his death except a little worm of the earth which kept slowly gnawing away at his staff: so when he fell down the jinns saw plainly that if they had known the unseen, they would not have tarried in the humiliating penalty.³

¹⁵There was for Saba’ a sign in their homeland before, two gardens to the right and to the left. Eat of the sustenance provided by your Lord and be grateful to Him: a territory fair and happy and a Lord often forgiving!

¹⁶But they turned away from Allah and We sent against them the flood released from the dams and We converted their two garden rows into “gardens” producing bitter fruit and tamarisks and some few stunted Lote trees.^4,5

¹⁷That was the requital We gave them because they ungratefully rejected faith: and never do We give requital except to such as are ungrateful rejecters.

¹⁴Falam ma qadaina alaihil mauta ma dal lahum ala mautihi illa dab batul ardi takulu min saatah falam maharra tabayyanatil jinnu al laukanuyalamunal gaiba ma labitsu fil azabil muhin

¹⁵Laqad kana lisaba infi maskanihim ayah jan natani ayyaminiw wa simal kulu mir rizqi rabbikum was kurulah bal datun tayyibatuw wa rabbun gafur

¹⁶Fa aradu fa arsalna alaihim sailal arimi wa baddalnahum bijan nataihim jannataini zawatai ukulin hamtiw wa atsliw wa sai im min sidrin

¹⁷Zalika jazainahum bima kafaru wa hal nujazil illal kafur

3. Though the Bible does not give the details of the cause of Solomon’s death, we are safe to speculate that he died a natural death though God was displeased with him for his inclination to marry and be drawn to the idols of the foreign wives. This is according to 1 Kings 11:43 to the end.

Several traditions surround the life of Solomon, including having his own personal demons and jinns. God does not appoint demons to work with His appointed servants. He sends His Holy Spirit upon them as we read about the life of Christ and of the Apostles Like 1:35, John 14:26, Acts 2 all attests to the fact that God send his Spirit upon the men and women he uses and not demons.

There are cases when god’s Spirit leaves a person as in the case of Saul, that an evil spirit will come and occupy the place which was previously occupied by the Holy Spirit. An example is Saul in 1 Samuel 16:14: Now the Spirit of the LORD departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the LORD tormented him.

[Commentary continues below.]

Also Jesus spoke about how things develop in the heart of those who had previously had an evil spirit; Matthew 12:43-45:

Whenever an unclean spirit goes out of a person, it wanders through waterless places looking for a place to rest but finds none. Then it says, “I will go back to my home that I left.” When it arrives, it finds it empty, swept clean, and put in order. Then it goes and brings with it seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they go in and settle there. And so the final condition of that person becomes worse than the first. That's just what will happen to this evil generation!

So then it becomes clear that God does not appoint demons for His followers, rather His followers choose to invite demons and other evil spirits into their lives.

4. Please refer to Qur’an 27:22.

5. The story of the flood and the Gardens can be traced to Genesis ²-11, where only one Garden is mentioned but two rivers are mentioned. The flood came as a result of the sinfulness of mankind in general.

¹⁸And between them and the cities on which We had poured Our blessings, We had placed cities in prominent positions and between them We had appointed stages of journey in due proportion,: “Travel therein secure by night and by day.”

¹⁹And they said: “Our Lord! place longer distances between our journey stages.” But they wronged themselves therein. At length We made them as a tale and We dispersed them all in scattered fragments. Verily, in this are signs for every soul that is patiently constant and grateful.

²⁰And on them did Satan prove true his idea and they followed him, all but a party that believed.

¹⁸Wa jaalna bainahum wa bainal qural lati barakna fiha quran zahirataw wa qad darna fiha sairsiru fiha laya liya wa ayya man aminin

¹⁹Faqalu rabbana baid baina asfarina wa zalamu anfusahum fajaalnahum ahaditsa wa maz zaqnahum kul la mumazzaq inna fi zalika ka ayatil likulli sabbarin sakur

²⁰Wa laqad saddaqa alaihim iblisu zannahu fattabauhu illa fariqam minal muminin

6. Since the Qur’an claims that Allah will ask Jesus on the last day if He had told mankind to worship Him and His mother as gods beside Allah (Qur’an 5:116). According this passage then, on the last day or the judgment day, Jesus among others will repent from such assertion. In neither the Bible nor the Qur’an do we read of Jesus being a sinner who must confess His sins to God. Rather the Qur’an calls Him holy (righteous, faultless (Qur’an 19:19)). Compared to Muhammad who was constantly asking for forgiveness of sin (Qur’an 40:55). Jesus is the Son of God through the agency of the Holy Ghost and that makes Him God (Luke 1:35, Qur’an 3:45).

²¹And he had no authority over them except that We might test the man who believes in the hereafter from him who is in doubt concerning it: and your Lord does watch over all things.

²²Say: “Call upon other gods whom you fancy besides Allah: they have no power, not the weight of an atom in the heavens or on earth; no sort of share have they therein nor is any of them a helper to Allah.

²³“No intercession can avail in His presence except for those for whom He has granted permission. So far this is the case, that when terror is removed from their hearts, at the day of judgment then will they say, `What is it that your Lord commanded?’ They will say `That which is true and just; and He is the most high, most great.’

²⁴Say: “Who gives you sustenance from the heavens and the earth?” Say: “It is Allah and certain it is that either we or you are on right guidance or in manifest error!”

²¹Wa ma kanalahu alaihim min sultanin illa linalama mayyuminu bilahirati mimman huwa minha fi sak wa rabbuka ala kulli saiin hafiz

²²Qulid ullazina zaamtum min dunil lah la yamlikuna mitsqala zarratin fissamawati wa la filardi wa ma lahum fihima min sirkiw wa ma lahum minhum min zahir

²³Wa la tanfaus safaatu indahu illa liman azina lahhat ta iza fuzzia an qulubihim qalu ma za qala rabbukum qalul haq wa huwal aliyyul kabir

²⁴Qul mayyarzuqukum minassamawati walard qulil lahu wa inna au iyyakum la ala hudan au fi dalalim mubin

[Commentary continues below.]

²⁵Say: “You shall not be questioned as to our sins nor shall we be questioned as to what you do.”

²⁶Say: “Our Lord will gather us together and will in the end decide the matter between us and you in truth and justice: and He is the one to decide, the one who knows all.”

²⁷Say: “Show me those whom you have joined with Him as partners: by no means can ye. No, He is Allah, the exalted in power, the wise.”

²⁸And We have not sent you but as a universal messenger to men, giving them glad tidings and warning them against sin, but most men understand not.

²⁹And they say: “When will this promise come to pass if you are telling the truth?”

³⁰Say: “The appointment to you is for a day which you cannot put back for an hour nor put forward.”

²⁵Qulla tus aluna amma ajramna wa la nusalu am ma ta malun

²⁶Qul yajmau bainana rabbuna summa yaftahu bainana hil haq wa huwal fattahul alim

²⁷Qul aruniyal lazina alhaqtum bihi suraka a kalla bal huwallahul azizul hakim

²⁸Wa ma arsalnaka illa kaffatal linnasi basiraw wa naziraw wa lakinna aksaran nasi la yalamun

²⁹Wa yaquluna mata hazal wadu inkuntum sadiqin

³⁰Qul lakum miadu yaumil la tasta ahiruna anhu saataw wa la tas taqdimun

[Commentary continues below.]

³¹The unbelievers say: “We shall neither believe in this scripture nor in any that came before it.” Could you see when the wrongdoers will be made to stand before their Lord, throwing back the word of blame on one another! Those who had been despised will say to the arrogant ones: “Had it not been for you we should certainly have been believers!”

³²The arrogant ones will say to those who had been despised: “Was it we who kept you back from guidance after it reached you? No, rather it was you who transgressed.”

³¹Wa qalallazina kafaru lan numina bihazal qurani wa la bil lazi baina yadaih wa lau tara iziz za limuna mauqufuna inda rabbihim yarjiu baduhum ila badinil qaul yaqulul lazinas tudifu lil lazinas takbaru lau laantum lakun na muminin

³²Qalal lazinas takbaru lillazinas tudifu anahnu sadadnakum anil huda bada iz ja akum bal kuntum mujrimin

[Commentary continues below.]

³³Those who had been despised will say to the arrogant ones: “No, it was a plot of yours by day and by night. Behold! you constantly ordered us to be ungrateful to Allah and to attribute equals to Him!” They will declare their repentance when they see the penalty: We shall put yokes on the necks of the unbelievers: it would only be a requital for their ill deeds.⁶

³⁴And never did We send a warner to a population but the wealthy ones among them said: “We believe not in the message with which you have been sent.”

³⁵They said: “We have more in wealth and in sons and we cannot be punished.”

³³Wa qalal lazinas tudifu lillazinas takbaru bal makrul laili wan nahari iz tamurunana an nakfura bil lahi wa najala lahu andada wa asar runnadamata lamma raawul azab wa jaalnal aglala fi anaqil lazina kafaru hal yujzauna illa ma kanu yamalun

³⁴Wa ma arsalna fi qaryatim minnazirin illa qala mutrafuha inna bima ursiltum bihi kafirun

³⁵Wa qalu nahnu aksaru amwalawwa auladaw wa ma nahnu bimuaz zabin

6. Since the Qur’an claims that Allah will ask Jesus on the last day if He had told mankind to worship Him and His mother as gods beside Allah (Qur’an 5:116). According this passage then, on the last day or the judgment day, Jesus among others will repent from such assertion. In neither the Bible nor the Qur’an do we read of Jesus being a sinner who must confess His sins to God. Rather the Qur’an calls Him holy (righteous, faultless (Qur’an 19:19)). Compared to Muhammad who was constantly asking for forgiveness of sin (Qur’an 40:55). Jesus is the Son of God through the agency of the Holy Ghost and that makes Him God (Luke 1:35, Qur’an 3:45).

³⁶Say: “Verily, my Lord enlarges and restricts the provision to whom He pleases, but most men understand not.”

³⁷It is not your wealth nor your sons that will bring you nearer to Us in degree: but only those who believe and work righteousness, these are the ones for whom there is a multiplied reward for their deeds, while secure they reside in the dwellings on high!

³⁸And those who strive against Our signs to frustrate them will be given over into punishment.

³⁶Qul inna rabbi yabsutur rizqa limay yasya uwa yaqdiru wa lakin na aksaran nasi la yalamun

³⁷Wa ma amwalukum wa la auladukum billati tuqar ribukum indana zulfa illa man amana wa amila salihan fa ulaika lahum jaza ud difi bima amilu wa hum fil gurufati aminun

³⁸Wa lazina yasauna fi ayatina muajizina ulaika fil azabi muhdarun

³⁹Say: “Verily, my Lord enlarges and restricts the sustenance to such of His servants as He pleases: and nothing do you spend in the least in his cause, but He replaces it: for He is the best of those who grant sustenance.

⁴⁰And one day He will gather them all together and say to the angels “Was it you that these men used to worship?”

⁴¹They will say “Glory to You! Our tie is with You as protector, not with them. No, but they worshiped the jinns: most of them believed in them.”

⁴²So on that day no power shall they have over each other for profit or harm: and We shall say to the wrongdoers “Taste the penalty of the fire, which you were known to deny!”

³⁹Qul inna rabbi yabsutur rizqa limayyasyau min ibadihi wa yaqdiru lah wa ma anfaqtum minsaiin fahuwa yuhlifuh wa huwa hairur raziqin

⁴⁰Wa yauma yahsuruhum jamian summa yaqulu lilmalaikati aha ulaikati aha ulai iyyakum kanu yabudun

⁴¹Qalu subhanaka anta waliyyuna min dunihim bal kanu yabudunaljin na aksaruhum bihim muminun

⁴²Fal yauma la yamliku badukum li badin nafaw wa la darra wa naqulu lillazina zalamu zuqu azaban narillati kuntum biha tukazibun

⁴³When Our clear signs are rehearsed to them, they say “This is only a man who wishes to hinder you from that which your fathers practiced.” And they say “This is only a falsehood invented!” And the unbelievers say of the truth when it comes to them “This is nothing but evident magic!”

⁴⁴And We had not given them books which they could study, nor sent apostles to them before you as warners.

⁴⁵And their predecessors rejected the truth; these have not received a tenth of what We had granted to those: yet when they rejected My apostles, how was My rejection of them!

⁴⁶Say: “I do admonish you on one point: that you do stand up before Allah it may be in pairs or it may be singly and reflect within yourselves: your companion is not possessed: he is no less than a warner to you in face of a terrible penalty.”

⁴³Wa iza tutla alaihim ayatuna bayyinatin qalu ma haza illa rajuluy yuridu ayyashud dakum amma kana yabudu aba ukum wa qalu ma haza illa ifkummuftara wa qalal lazina kafaru lilhaqi lam ma ja ahum inhazaillasihrum mubin

⁴⁴Wa ma atainahum minkutubiyyadrusunaha wa ma arsalna ilaihim qablaka min nazir

⁴⁵Wa kazzaballazina min qablihim wa ma balagu misara ma atainahum fakaz zabu rusuli fakaifa kana nakir

⁴⁶Qul innama aizukum biwahidah an taqumu lil lahi matsna wa furada summa tatafak karu ma bishahibikum min jinnah inhuwa illa nasirul lakum baina yadai azabin sadid

⁴⁷Say: “No reward do I ask of you: it is all in your interest: my reward is only due from Allah: and He is witness to all things.”

⁴⁸Say: “Verily, my Lord does cast the mantle of truth over His servants, He that has full knowledge of all that is hidden.”

⁴⁹Say: “The truth has arrived and falsehood neither creates anything new nor restores anything.”

⁵⁰Say: “If I am astray, I only stray to the loss of my own soul: but if I receive guidance, it is because of the inspiration of my Lord to me: it is He who hears all things and is ever near.”

⁵¹And if you could see when they will quake with terror: but then there will be no escape for them and they will be seized from a position quite near.

⁵²And they will say “We do believe (now) in the (truth)”: but how could they receive faith from a position so far off.

⁴⁷Qul ma sa altukum min ajrin fahuwa lakum in ajriya illaalal lah wa huwa ala kul li sai in sahid

⁴⁸Qul inna rabbi yaqzifu bil haq al lamul guyub

⁴⁹Qul ja al haqqu wa ma yuhdi ul batilu wa ma yuid

⁵⁰Qul in dalaltu fa innama adillu ala nafsi wa inih tadaitu fabima yuhi ilayya rabbi innahu samiun qarib

⁵¹Wa lau tara iz faziu fala fauta wa uhizu mimmakanin qarib

⁵²Wa qalu aman nabih wa anna lahumut tanawusu mim makanin baid

⁵³And seeing that they did reject faith entirely before, and that they continually cast slanders on the unseen from a position far off?

⁵⁴And between them and their desires is placed a barrier as was done in the past with their partisans: for they were indeed in suspicious disquieting doubt.

⁵³Wa qad kafaru bihi minqabl wa yaq zifuna bil gaibi mim makanin baid

⁵⁴Wa hila bainahum wa baina ma yastahuna kama fuila bi asyaihim min qabl innahum kanu fi sakim murib