Surah Saba' ([The People of] Saba) 34 : 44

Overview (Verses 43 - 45)

A Man Like You
 
When Our revelations are recited to them in all their clarity, they say: ‘This is but a man who wants to turn you away from what your forefathers worshipped.’ They also say: ‘This is nothing but an invented falsehood.’ Furthermore, when the truth comes to them, the unbelievers will say: ‘This is just plain sorcery’ Yet never have We given them any books to study, nor have We sent them any warner before you. Those who have gone before them likewise denied the truth. These people have not attained even one tenth of what We gave their predecessors, yet when they denied My messengers, how terrible was My condemnation. (Verses 43-45) They met the clear truth the Prophet recited to them with a confused legacy of past traditions that had neither a clear basis nor solid foundation. They realized that the simple, clear and consistent truth that was the Qur’ān represented a serious threat to their confused medley of inherited beliefs and traditions. Hence they claimed: “This is but a man who wants to turn you away from what your forefathers worshipped.” (Verse43) They realized, however, that this was not enough. That it contradicted their forefathers’ beliefs was not enough to convince everyone. Hence, they also questioned the honesty of the Messenger who delivered God’s message: “They also say: This is nothing but an invented falsehood.” (Verse 43) Needless to say, what is ‘false’ must be fabricated, but they wanted to give it stronger emphasis by saying “This is nothing but an invented falsehood.” (Verse 43) In other words, they sought to undermine it, raising doubts about its divine source.
 
Then they moved on to describe the Qur’ān itself: “When the truth comes to them, the unbelievers will say: ‘This is just plain sorcery.’” (Verse 43) They realized that the Qur’ān is powerful and shakes people’s hearts. Hence, it was not enough to say that it was fabricated. They had to explain its power and so alleged that it was ‘plain sorcery.’
 
With such allegations, one following the other, they sought to divert people’s attention from the clear and powerful verses of the Qur’ān. They knew they could not back up their claims, and indeed many of those who made such allegations, i.e. tribal chiefs and those who were influential in society, were certain that the Qur’ān was God’s revelation as no human being could have produced anything like it. References have been made earlier in this book to what some of the elders of the Quraysh said in private conversations about Muĥammad (peace be upon him) and the Qur’ān, and what they schemed in order to turn people away from listening to the Qur’ān which captivates people’s hearts.
 
The Qur’ān exposes them as it states that they were not given books in the past so as to evaluate new ones and judge revelations. How can they, then, say that what they now received was neither revelation nor a divine book? How can they say that it was not from God, when they did not have any messengers in the past? Their claims are devoid of substance: “Yet never have We given them any books to study, nor have We sent them any warner before you.” (Verse 44)
 
The sūrah then touches their hearts by reminding them of the destruction of earlier communities. Those Arabs had not been given one tenth of what those earlier people had of knowledge, wealth and power. When they denied God’s messengers, punishment overwhelmed them: “Those who have gone before them likewise denied the truth. These people have not attained even one tenth of what We gave their predecessors, yet when they denied My messengers, how terrible was My condemnation.” (Verse 45) This condemnation destroyed them all. The Quraysh knew of some of these old communities who suffered God’s punishment. Therefore, this brief reminder is sufficient. It comes in the form of a sarcastic question: ‘how terrible was My condemnation.’ It is a question put to those who knew the extent of that condemnation.