Surah-34 469

SURAH-34

SABA

This early Makkan Surah draws its title from verse 15 where Saba (Biblical Sheba), a place in Yemen, is mentioned.

The central theme of the Surah is to bring home this fact to the non-believers in God that the Hour of Doom would surely come and they would be raised to life after their death although they had become dust. On the Day of Judgement, Allah would reward the believers for their good deeds and punish the disbelievers for their sins. It warns of the effects of luxury and shows the impermanence of human power, wealth and glory. Ease and prosperity generally give birth to evil which brings decay and ruin.

Verses 10-14 tell about the favours Allah bestowed upon His servants and prophets David and Solomon. They were blessed with wealth, power and wisdom. Allah caused the hills and birds to echo David’s psalms of Allah’s praise and taught him the skill of making arms. Allah subdued the winds to Solomon and subjected to him a group of Jinn who performed various services for him. Both of them remained faithful and grateful to Allah and prospered. On the other hand, the dwellers of Saba (verses 15-20) were given gardens and other favours of Allah, but wealth corrupted them. They followed Satan, disobeyed God, did not believe in the Hereafter, did not give thanks to God, so their gardens were exchanged with bad ones and the famous Dam of Irim which they had built was destroyed causing a great flood.

Other subjects of the Surah are: Muhammad (PBUH) has been sent as a messenger to the whole of mankind, intercession will not avail before Allah, wealth and children are a test for man.

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Lesson-255 : Allah’s powers In the name of Allah, the Most Beneficent, the

Most Merciful. 1. Praise be to Allah, to Whom belongs whatsoever is in the heavens and whatsoever is in the earth, and for Him is the praise in the Hereafter. And He is the Wise, the Aware. 2. He knows that which goes into the earth and that which comes out of it, and that which descends from the heaven and that which ascends into it. And He is the Merciful, the Forgiving.

3. Those who disbelieve say: The Hour will not come to us. Say: Nay, by my Lord, it will certainly come to you. He is the Knower of the Unseen. Nothing is hidden from Him in the heavens and the earth, be it equal to an atom’s weight or less than that or greater than that, but is recorded in the clear Book.

4. (The Hour is to come) so that He may reward those who believe and do good deeds. It is they for whom there is forgiveness and honourable provision. 5. And as for those who strive against Our revelations to frustrate them, for them there will be punishment of very painful doom.

6. Those who have been given knowledge see that what is revealed to you from your Lord is the truth, and it leads to the Path of the Mighty, the Owner of Praise.

7. And those who disbelieve say: Shall we inform you of a man (Muhammad) who will tell you that when you have disintegrated into dust with complete disintegration, then you will be created anew?

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8. Has he fabricated a lie against Allah or is there (some sort of) madness in him? Nay, the fact is that those who disbelieve in the Hereafter are in the torment and gross error.

9. Do they not see what is before them and what is behind them of the heaven and the earth? If We want, We can make the earth swallow them or We can cause a piece of heaven to fall upon them. Verily, there is a sign in this for every slave (i.e. faithful believer) who turns in repentance (to Allah).

Lesson-256 : People of Sheba 10. And verily We gave David grace from Us, (saying): O Mountains and birds! Join him in singing My praise. And We made the iron soft for him. 11. Saying: Make long coats of mail and measure the links thereof, and do righteous deeds. Surely I am Seer of what you do.

12. And to Solomon We subjected the wind, its morning stride was a month’s journey and its evening stride was a months’ journey. And We caused a fountain of molten copper to flow for him. And We subjected some of the Jinn who worked before him by the command of his Lord. And whoever of them deviated from Our command, We made him to taste the punishment of flaming fire. 13. They made for him what he wished: Arches (of forts), and statues, and basins like reservoirs, and cooking cauldrons fixed into ground. Give thanks (to Me), O family of David! But only a few of My slaves are truly grateful.

14. And when We decreed death for him, nothing told them (i.e. the Jinn) about his death except a little worm of the earth (i.e. termite) which slowly ate away his staff (upon which he was leaning). So when he fell down, the Jinn saw clearly that if they had known the unseen they would not have stayed in the humiliating torment (of continuous toil).

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15. Indeed there was a sign for (the people of) Sheba in their dwellings: Two gardens; one on the right and one on the left. It was said to them: Eat of the provision of your Lord and give thanks to Him. A good land and a forgiving Lord!

16. But they turned away (in ungratefulness), so We sent on them the flood of the Dam (Arim). And in exchange for their two gardens, We gave them two gardens bearing bitter fruit, tamarisks and few lote trees.

17. This We awarded them because they were ungrateful. And never do We punish any except the ungrateful.

18. And between them and the towns which We had blessed, We set other towns easy to be seen, and We determined the stages of journey therein, saying: Travel in them safely by night and day.

19. But they said: Our Lord! Make the stages between our journeys longer. And they wronged their own souls (thereby), so We made them tales and scattered them with a complete scattering. Verily, herein there are signs for every steadfast, grateful person. 20. And indeed Satan found his assessment true about them, for they followed him all except a group of true believers.

21. And he (the Satan) had no authority over them, save that We willed to know him who believes in the Hereafter (and distinguish him) from him who is in doubt concerning it. And your Lord is guardian over everything.

Lesson-257 : False gods have no authority 22. Say (O Muhammad) to them: Call upon those whom you consider gods beside Allah! They do not own (or have authority over) an atom’s weight (of anything) in the heavens or in the earth, nor have they any share in either, nor there is for Him any helper among them.

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23. And intercession with Him avails not except for the one for whom He permits. Until when fear is removed from their hearts, they will say: what is it that your Lord has said? They say: The Truth. And He is the most High, the Great.

24. Say (O Muhammad to them): Who provides you sustenance from the heavens and the earth? Say: Allah. Verily, either we or you are rightly guided or in error manifest. 25. Say: You shall not be asked about the sins we have committed, nor will we be asked of what you do.

26. Say: Our Lord will gather us all together, then He will judge between us with truth. And He is the all-knowing Judge.

27. Say: Show me those whom you have associated as partners to Him. Nay (they are not). But He is Allah (alone) Who is the Mighty, the Wise. 28. And We have not sent you (O Muhammad) except as a bringer of good news and a warner to all mankind, but most of the men do not know.

29. And they say: When this promise (of Resurrection) is going to be fulfilled, if you are truthful? 30. Say (O Muhammad): For you is the fixed promise of a Day which you cannot postpone for a moment nor can you prepone it.

31. And those who disbelieve say: We do not believe in this Quran nor in that which was before it (the Torah, the Gospel). But oh, you could only see when these wrong-doers will be made to stand before their Lord, how they will put the blame on one another; how those who were deemed weak (in the earth) would say to those who were proud: But for you we would certainly have been believers.

32. And those who were proud will say to those who were deemed weak: Did we keep you back from guidance when it had come to you? Nay, but you yourselves were guilty.

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33. And those who were weak would say to those who were proud. Nay, but it was your scheming night and day when you ordered us we should disbelieve in Allah and that we should set up rivals to Him. And they will conceal their regrets when they behold the doom. And We shall put yokes on the necks of those who disbelieved. Will they be requited aught save what they did?

34. And We did not send a warner to a town, but its well-to-do people said: Verily, we disbelieve in that with which you have been sent.

35. And they say: We are more (than you) in respect of wealth and children, and (therefore) we are not going to be punished.

36. Say: Verily, my Lord enlarges the sustenance for whom He wills and straitens it (for whom He wants). But most of the people do not know.

37. And it is neither your wealth nor your children which bring you nearer to Us, but he who believes and does good deeds (is nearer to Us). As for such, they will have two fold reward for what they did, and they will reside in high dwellings in peace.

38. And as for those who strive against Our revelations to frust them, they will be brought for punishment.

39. Say: My Lord enlarges the sustenance for whom He wills of His slaves, and narrows it (for whom He wants). And whatever you spend of anything (in Allah’s cause), He replaces it. And He is the Best of the Sustainers.

Lesson-258 : Instructions to Muhammad 40. On the Day when He will gather them all together, He will say to the angels: Was it you that these people used to worship?

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41. They will say: Glory be to You. You are our Protector instead of them. Nay, but they used to worship the Jinn; most of them believed in them.

42. So this Day you have no power to profit or harm one another. And We shall say to those who did wrong: Taste the doom of the Fire which you used to deny.

43. And when Our clear verses are recited to them, they say: This (Muhammad) is naught else than a man who intends to turn you away from what your fathers used to worship. And they further say: This (Quran) is nothing but an invented lie. And those who disbelieve say of the truth when it came to them: It is nothing but a clear magic.

44. And We did not give them any Book which they read, nor We sent to them before you any warner.

45. And those before them denied. And these people have not attained one tenth of that which We bestowed on them of old, yet they denied My messengers. Then how terrible was My punishment (for them).

46. Say (O Muhammad): I exhort you to one thing only; that you stand up for Allah’s sake, by two or singly, and then think: There is no madness in your companion. He is nothing but a warner to you in the face of a severe torment.

47. Say: Whatever reward I might have asked of you is yours. My reward is due from Allah only. And He is Witness over every thing.

48. Say: My Lord sends down the Truth. He is the Knower of the hidden things. 49. Say: The Truth has come, and Falsehood does not show itself nor will it return. 50. Say: If I err, I err only to my own loss, and if I am on guidance, it is because of that which my Lord reveals to me. He is Hearer, Ever Near.

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51. If you could only see when they (the disbelievers) will be in a state of fear (and confusion) having no escape and they will be seized from a near place. 52. And they will say: We now believe in it (i.e. the teachings of the messenger). But how can they reach (faith) from a far off place.

53. Indeed they had disbelieved in it before. And they conjecture about the unseen from a distant place.

54. And a barrier will be set between them and that which they desire, as was done before with the people of their kind. Verily, they were in a grave doubt.

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Surah-35 477

SURAH-35

AL-FATIR

Surah Al – Fatir, “The originator” takes its name from verse 1. The Surah has also been called Al-Malaikah and this name is also based on verse 1 where description of angels has been given as having two, three, four wings. The Surah belongs to early Makkan period as it may have been revealed in 5th or 6th year of Prophet’s mission.

Its main subject, as usual, is to preach Tauhid and warn against shirk (polytheism). It deals with Allah’s unique power to create, maintain, and resurrect everything in the universe. The Surah discusses many subjects of which are: None can award or withhold favours and blessings besides Allah; Satan is enemy of Allah; for the disbelievers there is punishment while for the believers there are good rewards; honour is in the hands of Allah; everything is written in a Book (of decrees); Allah can rid of mankind and bring a new creation in their place; mankind is in need of Allah while Allah is not in need of anyone; if Allah was to punish the people for their wrongs, He would not have left any living being; evil plot surrounds the men who make it.

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Lesson-259 : O mankind ! In the name of Allah, the Most Beneficent, the

Most Merciful. 1. Praise be to Allah, the Creator of the heavens and the earth, Who appoints the angels having two and three and four wings as (His) messengers. He increases in creation what He wants. Surely, Allah has power over all things.

2. Whatever of mercy Allah bestows on the people, none can withhold it; and that which He withholds, none can release it thereafter. He is the Mighty, the Wise.

3. O mankind! Remember Allah’s favour on you. Is there any creator other than Allah Who provides you sustenance from the heaven and the earth? There is no God but He. Whither then are you turned?

4. And if they deny you (O Muhammad), so were the messengers denied before you. And to Allah return all matters.

5. O mankind! Surely, Allah’s promise is true. So let not the life of the world deceive you, and let not the great deceiver (the Satan) deceive you about Allah.

6. Truly, the Satan is an enemy for you, so take him as an enemy. He only invites his party (to his way) so that they may become companions of the flaming Fire. 7. Those who disbelieve, for them there will be an awe-full doom. And those who believe and do good deeds, for them there will be forgiveness and a great reward.

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8. Is he, the evil of whose deeds is made fair-seeming to him so that he deems it good (equal to him who is rightly guided)? Verily, Allah sends astray whom He wants, and He guides whom he wants. So let not your soul expire in sorrow for them. Surely, Allah is Knower of what they do.

9. And Allah is He Who sends the winds, and they raise a cloud; then We drive it to a dead land, and revive with it the earth after its death. Such will be the resurrection (of the dead).

10. Whoso desires honour should know that all honour belongs to Allah. To Him good words ascend, and the pious deeds He exalts. And those who plot bad deeds, they will have a terrible doom, and their plotting will perish.

11. Allah created you from dust, then from a drop of semen, then He made you pairs. And no female conceives or delivers without His knowledge. And no aged-man is granted long life nor is any portion cut off from his life but it is recorded in a Book. Verily, this is easy for Allah.

12. And the two seas are not alike; one is fresh sweet and pleasant to drink, and the other is saltish and bitter. And from them both you eat fresh meat, and derive the ornaments which you wear. And you see the ships sailing through them, that you may seek of His bounty, and that you may give thanks.

13. He makes the night to pass into the day and He makes the day to pass into the night. He has subjected the sun and the moon, each runs its course for an appointed term. Such is Allah your Lord, His is the Sovereignty. And those to whom you pray besides Him do not even own a thread on a date-stone.

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14. If you pray to them, they hear not your prayer, and even if they could hear, they cannot answer you. And on the Day of Resurrection, they will deny your associating them with Allah. None can inform you like Him Who is very well Informed.

Lesson-260 : None will bear another’s burden 15. O mankind! You are needy and dependent on Allah, but Allah is Independent, the Owner of Praise.

16. If He wants, He can destroy you and bring about some new creation (in place of you).

17. And this is not at all difficult for Allah.

18. No bearer of burden will bear another’s burden, and if one heavily laden calls another to bear his load, he will not lift anything of it even though he be near of kin. You (O Prophet) can warn only those who fear their Lord unseen and establish prayer. And he who purifies himself, he purifies himself only for his own benefit. And to Allah is the return.

19. The blind man is not equal with the seer.

20. Nor is darkness equal with the light.

21. Nor is shade equal with sun’s heat.

22. Nor are the living equal with the dead. Verily, Allah can make him hear whom He wants, but you cannot make those hear who are in the graves.

23. You are naught but a warner.

24. Verily, We have sent you with Truth as bearer of good news and a warner, and there is not a nation but a warner has passed among them.

25. And if they deny you, those before them had also denied. Their messengers came to them with clear signs and with scriptures and with a Book giving light. 26. Then I seized those who disbelieved, and behold, how terrible was My punishment (for their disbelief).

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27. Have you not seen that Allah sends down water from the sky. Then We produce therewith fruits of various colours. And among the mountains there are streaks white and red of various shades, and some are jet black.

28. And of men and beasts and cattle, in like manner, are various colours. Only those of His slaves fear Allah who possess knowledge. Verily, Allah is Mighty, Forgiving.

29. Surely, those who recite the Book of Allah, and establish prayer and spend (in charity) out of what We have given them secretly and openly, they hope for a gain that will never perish.

30. That He may pay them their wages in full and give them more out of His grace. Verily, He is Forgiving, Appreciative (of good deeds).

Lesson-261 : The believers and disbelievers 31. What We have revealed to you (O Muhammad) of the Book is the Truth confirming that which was revealed before it. Surely, Allah is Aware, Seer of His slaves. 32. Then We gave the Book as inheritance to those of Our slaves whom We have chosen. But of them are some who wrong themselves and of them are some who follow a middle way, and of them are some who excel in good deeds by Allah’s leave. This is indeed a great favour (of Allah).

33. Gardens of Eden (i.e. Paradise) wherein they will enter wearing bracelets of gold and pearls, and their dress therein will be of silk.

34. And they will say: Praise be to Allah Who has removed all grief from us. Certainly, our Lord is Forgiving, Appreciative.

35. Who has loged us in Home of Eternity (Paradise) out of His grace; no toil touches us in it nor any weariness affects us.

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36. But as for those who disbelieve, for them will be the Fire of Hell. It will not have complete effect on them so that they could die, nor its torment will be lightened for them. Thus do We punish every disbeliever.

37. And they will cry for help therein, saying: Our Lord! Take us out, we will do righteous deeds contrary to those (evil deeds) which we used to do! (Allah will say): Did We not give you a long life, so that he who would receive admonition could receive it therein? And the warner also came to you. Now taste (the consequence of your deeds). For the wrong-doers, there is no helper.

38. Verily, Allah is the Knower of the unseen of the heavens and the earth. Surely, He is Knower of what is in the breasts.

39. He it is Who has made you viceroys in the earth. So whosoever disbelieves, on him is his disbelief. And the disbelief of the disbelievers does not increase for them anything except abhorrence in the sight of their Lord; neither their disbelief increases for the disbelievers anything except loss.

40. Say (O Muhammad, to them): Have you seen your associate-gods to whom you pray beside Allah? Show me what they created of the earth or have they any share in (the creation of) the heavens? Or have We given them a scripture so that they act on clear authority from it. Nay, the wrong-doers promise one another nothing but deception.

41. Verily, Allah withholds the heavens and the earth lest they slip out of their places; and if they were to slip, none can hold them back except Him. Verily, Hs is ever Forbearing, Forgiving.

42. And they used to swear by Allah their most binding oaths that if a warner came to them they would be better guided than any of the nations. But when a warner has come to them, it has not added in them anything except aversion.

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43. They are averse showing arrogance in the land and plotting evil. But the evil plot encompasses only him who makes it. Can they then expect anything else than the treatment of the peoples of old? You will not find any change in Allah’s way (of dealing with such people) nor you will find any alteration in Allah’s way.

44. Have they not traveled in the earth and seen what was the end of those before them who were mightier than these in power? Allah is not such that anything in the heavens or in the earth can defeat (or frustrate) Him. Verily, He is All-Knower, All-Powerful.

45. And if Allah were to take the mankind to task for that which they earn, He would not have left any living creature on the surface of the earth. But He gives them respite till an appointed term, and when their appointed term comes then (they will know that) verily Allah is ever Seer of His slaves.

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