Surah Saba' ([The People of] Saba) 34 : 8

Overview (Verses 7 - 9)

The sūrah again mentions their reception to news of a Day of Judgement, expressing their total amazement at such a subject. They, in fact, suggest that to claim that resurrection takes place on a day when all humanity will be individually judged by God can only be attributed to a madman or someone who invents lies and attributes them to God. “The unbelievers say: Shall we point out to you a man who will tell you that, when you have been utterly torn into pieces, you shall be restored to lift in a new act of creation? Has he invented a lie about God, or is he a madman?’ No! It is those who do not believe in the life to come who are suffering torment as they have gone far in error.” (Verses 7-8)

Their amazement at the thought of resurrection is such that they invite people to join them in wondering at the condition of the person claiming it, using an especially derisive style: “Shall we point out to you a man who will tell you that, when you have been utterly torn into pieces, you shall be restored to life in a new act of creation?” (Verse 7) Do you want to see such a strange man uttering wild claims of a new creation after you have been long dead and your bodies have decomposed? Such derision then turns to defamation: “Has he invented a lie about God, or is he a madman?” According to them, such claims can only be made by a liar, by someone who fabricates ideas and claims that they are God’s, or by a madman affected by the jinn to such an extent that he says what is incomprehensible.

What justifies their attitude? Is it simply because he says that they will be resurrected? Why is this so amazing when they have already gone through the process of being created? They do not even reflect on this amazing event, which they know to have taken place, i.e. their creation in the first instance. Had they reflected on this, they would not have marvelled at a second creation. They have already gone astray. Hence, the sūrah comments: “No! It is those who do not believe in the life to come who are suffering torment as they have gone far in error.” (Verse 8)

That they are in torment may refer to their punishment in the life to come. Since it will inevitably overtake them, then it is as if they are already in it, just like they have gone irremediably into error. But the statement may be understood in a different way, which suggests that those who do not believe in the life to come live in torment just as they live in error. This is a profound statement. A person who spends his life without belief in a second life suffers mental torment, as he lives without hope of justice, fair reward or compensation for what happens in his life. Indeed human life is full of situations and trials which man cannot face properly unless he looks up with hope for justice and reward for good action and punishment for those who do evil. There are things that one cannot do or bear without looking up to God, hoping to earn His pleasure in the life to come, when nothing large or small is overlooked. Whoever is deprived of this window of hope, which brings comfort and satisfaction, undoubtedly lives in torment as well as in error. Such a person suffers all this in the present life, before suffering punishment in the hereafter for his misdeeds which brought about his present life’s suffering.

Belief in the hereafter brings the grace and blessings God grants to whoever of His servants deserves them through his desire to be guided to the truth and his diligent pursuit of it. My own feeling is that this second meaning is the one the present verse implies, as it describes those who do not believe in the hereafter as suffering torment and as being in deep error. These people, who disbelieve in the life to come, are jerked from their slumber and presented with a fearful scene which could happen to them, if God so wills. Should they continue to go far into error, they will face terrible consequences: “Do they not consider how much of the sky and the earth lies open before them and how much lies hidden from them? If We so willed, We could cause the earth to swallow them, or cause fragments of the sky to fall upon them. In all this, there is a sign for every servant of God turning to Him in repentance.” (Verse 9) Here we have an image of terrible world events which they could see or perceive. Avalanches and landslides occur, and people see or hear of them, and fragments fall from the sky, such as meteors and thunderbolts. Again they have heard of such falls. The mention of such events here serves as a wake-up call to those who are heedless and those who discount the possibility of the arrival of the Last Hour. God’s punishment is closer to them than all this. It only requires that God wills to inflict it upon them in this life, before the Last Hour. It could come to them in the form of the earth or the sky which surrounds them from all directions. Both are around them, unlike the Last Hour which belongs to God’s own knowledge. Only the wrongdoers remain oblivious to what God may do.

What they see in the heavens and earth, and what may befall them at any time, should God wish it, present clear signs for anyone who reflects and turns to God with submission: “there is a sign for every servant of God turning to Him in repentance.” (Verse 9)