34. Surah Saba
The Quranic Text & Ali’s Version:
وَقَالَ
الَّذِينَ
كَفَرُوا لَن
نُّؤْمِنَ
بِهَذَا الْقُرْآنِ
وَلَا بِالَّذِي
بَيْنَ يَدَيْهِ...
34:31. The Unbelievers say: "We shall neither believe in this scripture nor in (any) that (came) before it."
C3834. To the Pagans all scriptures are taboo, whether it be the Quran or any Revelation that came before it.
The people of the Book despised the Pagans, but in their arrogant assumption of superiority, prevented them, by their example, from accepting the latest and most universal Scripture when it came in the form of the Quran. This relative position, of men who fancy themselves on their knowledge, and men whom they despise but exploit and mislead, always exists on this earth.
I have mentioned the people of the Book and the Pagan Arabs merely by way of illustration.
... وَلَوْ تَرَى إِذِ الظَّالِمُونَ مَوْقُوفُونَ عِندَ رَبِّهِمْ ...
Couldst thou but see when the wrongdoers will be made to stand before their Lord,
... يَرْجِعُ بَعْضُهُمْ إِلَى بَعْضٍ الْقَوْلَ...
throwing back the word (of blame) on one another!
C3835. One disbelief is as bad as another. There is little to choose between them. But when the final account will be taken, there will be mutual recriminations between the one and the other.
... يَقُولُ الَّذِينَ اسْتُضْعِفُوا لِلَّذِينَ اسْتَكْبَرُوا ...
Those who had been despised will say to the arrogant ones:
C3836. The Pagans will naturally say to the people of the Book:
"You misled us; you had previous Revelations, and you should have known how Allah sent His Messengers; had it not been for your bad example, we should have received Allah's Revelation and become Believers."
Or the humble followers will say this to their leaders, or those less gifted will say to those by whom they were misled and exploited.
The dichotomy is between such as pretentiously held their heads high in the world and such as they profited by but held in contempt.
... لَوْلَا أَنتُمْ لَكُنَّا مُؤْمِنِينَ ﴿٣١﴾
"Had it not been for you, we should certainly have been believers!"
وَمَا
أَرْسَلْنَا
فِي قَرْيَةٍ
مِّن نَّذِيرٍ
إِلَّا قَالَ
مُتْرَفُوهَا...
34:34 [Ali]. Never did We send a Warner to a population, but the wealthy ones among them said:
C3841. Whenever the Message of Allah comes, the vested interests range themselves against it. Worldly power has made them arrogant; worldly pleasures have deadened their sensibility to Truth. They reject the Message because it attacks their false position.
... إِنَّا بِمَا أُرْسِلْتُم بِهِ كَافِرُونَ ﴿٣٤﴾
"We believe not in the (message) with which ye have been sent."
وَقَالُوا
نَحْنُ
أَكْثَرُ أَمْوَالًا
وَأَوْلَادًا
وَمَا نَحْنُ
بِمُعَذَّبِينَ
﴿٣٥﴾
34: 35. They said: "We have more in wealth and in sons, and we cannot be punished."
C3842. Their arrogance is openly based on their worldly power and position, their family influence, and the strength of their man-power,
Turn back again to the contrast drawn between the arrogant ones and those whom they despised, in verses 31-33.
Asad’s Version:
[[In the following expressions lay extreme arrogance and obstinacy]]
(34:31) 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 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: 38 "Had it not been for you, we would certainly have been believers!"
35 See note 49 on the first sentence of 10:31.
36 The Qur'anic answer to this ironic question is found in 7:187.
37 For my rendering of sa'ah (lit., "hour") as "a single moment", see surah 7, note 26.
38 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.
34:34
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 pleasures 45 would declare, "Behold, we deny that there is any truth in [what you claim to be] your message!" –
(34:35) 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!""
[[ Asad’s note - 45 The term mutraf denotes "one who indulges in the pursuit of pleasures", i.e., to the exclusion of all moral considerations: cf. note 1 47 on 11:116. ]]