Tafseer of Sheba · Saba · 34:19
But [insolently] they said, "Our Lord, lengthen the distance between our journeys," and wronged themselves, so We made them narrations and dispersed them in total dispersion. Indeed in that are signs for everyone patient and grateful.
Important: The Arabic source text is always authoritative. This translation is a study aid and has not been verified by scholars — do not use it as a basis for religious proof or for deriving rulings (ahkam). When in doubt, always consult the Arabic text and a qualified scholar.
The discourse on the explanation of His statement, the Exalted: فَقَالُوا رَبَّنَا بَاعِدْ بَيْنَ أَسْفَارِنَا وَظَلَمُوا أَنْفُسَهُمْ فَجَعَلْنَاهُمْ أَحَادِيثَ وَمَزَّقْنَاهُمْ كُلَّ مُمَزَّقٍ إِنَّ فِي ذَلِكَ لآيَاتٍ لِكُلِّ صَبَّارٍ شَكُورٍ (19) (So they said: "Our Lord, lengthen the distances between our journeys," and they wronged themselves; so We made them tales and tore them utterly to pieces. Indeed, in that are signs for every greatly patient, greatly thankful one) (19)
The reciters differed over the reading of His statement رَبَّنَا بَاعِدْ بَيْنَ أَسْفَارِنَا. The general reciters of Medina and Kūfa read it as رَبَّنَا بَاعِدْ بَيْنَ أَسْفَارِنَا, in the form of a supplication and a request, with the alif. And some of the people of Mecca and Basra read it as بَعِّدْ, with doubling (tashdīd) of the ʿayn, likewise in the form of a supplication. And it has been reported of the ancients that one read it as رَبَّنَا بَاعَدَ بَيْنَ أَسْفَارِنَا, in the form of a statement from Allah that Allah did that to them. And it is related of another that he read it as رَبَّنَا بَعَّدَ, likewise in the form of a statement, except that "the Lord" stands in the vocative (the one called upon).
And the correct reading in this matter, according to us, is رَبَّنَا بَاعِدْ and بَعِّدْ, for those are the two well-known readings in the reading of the great cities (al-amṣār), and what falls outside them is not known among them. Moreover, the explanation of the exegetes likewise confirms the reading of the one who read it in the form of a supplication and a request, and that too is something which removes the other reading still further from what is correct.
Since, then, this is the correct reading, then the explanation of the statement is: so they said: "O our Lord, lengthen the distances between our journeys; so make between us and Shām (Syria) deserts and vast wildernesses, so that we may ride mounts therein and carry provisions with us." And this is one of the indications of the people's insolence toward the favor of Allah upon them and His beneficence toward them, and their ignorance of the worth of well-being. And indeed, their Lord hastened the answering for them, just as He hastened it for those who said إِنْ كَانَ هَذَا هُوَ الْحَقَّ مِنْ عِنْدِكَ فَأَمْطِرْ عَلَيْنَا حِجَارَةً مِنَ السَّمَاءِ أَوِ ائْتِنَا بِعَذَابٍ أَلِيمٍ (If this is the Truth from You, then rain down upon us stones from the heaven or bring us a painful punishment): He gave them what they desired and that for which they asked in their request.
And in accordance with what we have said about this, the exegetes have spoken.
* Mention of those who said that:
Abū Ḥaṣīn ʿAbdullāh ibn Aḥmad ibn Yūnus related to me, saying: ʿAbthar related to us, saying: Ḥaṣīn related to us, on the authority of Abū Mālik, concerning this verse فَقَالُوا رَبَّنَا بَاعِدْ بَيْنَ أَسْفَارِنَا, he said: they had villages contiguous all the way to Yemen, one of which overlooked the other; but they grew insolent thereby and said: "Our Lord, lengthen the distances between our journeys." He said: thereupon Allah sent against them the flood of al-ʿArim, and He turned their food into bitter tamarisk trees and something of a few lote-trees.
Muḥammad ibn Saʿd related to me, saying: my father related to me, saying: my uncle related to me, saying: my father related to me, on the authority of his father, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, his statement فَقَالُوا رَبَّنَا بَاعِدْ بَيْنَ أَسْفَارِنَا وَظَلَمُوا أَنْفُسَهُمْ, he said: they grew insolent over their livelihood and said: "Would that the harvest of our gardens were farther away than it now is, then we would long for it more." Thereupon they were scattered between Shām and Sabaʾ, and their two gardens were replaced by two gardens with bitter fruits, and tamarisk and something of a few lote-trees.
Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, فَقَالُوا رَبَّنَا بَاعِدْ بَيْنَ أَسْفَارِنَا: the people grew insolent toward the favor of Allah and disdained the honor of Allah. Allah said: وَظَلَمُوا أَنْفُسَهُمْ فَجَعَلْنَاهُمْ أَحَادِيثَ (and they wronged themselves; so We made them tales).
Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Ibn Zayd said concerning his statement فَقَالُوا رَبَّنَا بَاعِدْ بَيْنَ أَسْفَارِنَا: so that we might pass the night in the deserts and the wildernesses. فَظَلَمُوا أَنْفُسَهُمْ (and they wronged themselves).
And His statement فَظَلَمُوا أَنْفُسَهُمْ: their wronging of themselves was their committing of that whereby Allah was angered against them, of His acts of disobedience, which made the punishment of Allah obligatory upon them. فَجَعَلْنَاهُمْ أَحَادِيثَ, He says: We made them tales for the people, who cite them as a proverb in reviling, so that one says: "The people fell apart like the hands of Sabaʾ" — "aydī Sabaʾ" is said when people fall apart and disperse.
And His statement وَمَزَّقْنَاهُمْ كُلَّ مُمَزَّقٍ, He says: and We scattered them throughout the lands, with every scattering.
As Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, وَظَلَمُوا أَنْفُسَهُمْ فَجَعَلْنَاهُمْ أَحَادِيثَ وَمَزَّقْنَاهُمْ كُلَّ مُمَزَّقٍ, Qatāda said: ʿĀmir al-Shaʿbī said: as for Ghassān, they joined themselves to Shām; and as for the Anṣār, they joined themselves to Yathrib (Medina); and as for Khuzāʿa, they joined themselves to Tihāma; and as for al-Azd, they joined themselves to Oman.
Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Salama related to us, on the authority of Ibn Isḥāq, he said: it is claimed that ʿImrān ibn ʿĀmir — and he was the uncle of the people — was a soothsayer (kāhin), and he saw in his soothsaying that his people would be scattered and would disperse. He said to them: "Indeed, I have learned that you will be scattered. Whoever among you has a far-reaching ambition, a strong camel, and a new waterskin, let him join himself to Kaʾs or Kurūd." He said: that was Wādiʿa ibn ʿAmr. "And whoever among you has a low ambition and resists the miser, let him join himself to the land of Shann." That was ʿAwf ibn ʿAmr, and they are those who are called Bāriq. "And whoever among you wants an easy life and a secure sanctuary, let him join himself to al-Arzīn." That was Khuzāʿa. "And whoever wants the steadfast in the mud, the feeders in the drought, let him join himself to Yathrib, which possesses date palms." Those were al-Aws and al-Khazraj, and they are these two tribes of the Anṣār. "And whoever wants wine and yeast, gold and silk, and kingship and command, let him join himself to Kūsā and Buṣrā." That was Ghassān, the Banū Jafna, the kings of Shām, and whoever of them was in Iraq. Ibn Isḥāq said: I heard some of the scholars say: it was Ṭarīfa, the wife of ʿImrān ibn ʿĀmir, who made this statement; she was a soothsayer and she saw that in her soothsaying — and Allah knows best which of the two it was. He said: when they fell apart, they settled according to the soothsaying of ʿImrān ibn ʿĀmir.
And His statement إِنَّ فِي ذَلِكَ لآيَاتٍ لِكُلِّ صَبَّارٍ شَكُورٍ, He, exalted is His mention, says: indeed, in Our tearing them utterly to pieces are signs, He says: an admonition, a lesson, and an indication of the obligatory duty of Allah upon His servant, namely thankfulness for His favors when He bestows grace upon him, and his duty of patience at His trial when He tries him with adversity — for every greatly patient one, greatly thankful for His favors.
And in accordance with what we have said about this, the exegetes have spoken.
* Mention of those who said that:
Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, إِنَّ فِي ذَلِكَ لآيَاتٍ لِكُلِّ صَبَّارٍ شَكُورٍ: Muṭarrif used to say: "An excellent servant is the greatly patient, greatly thankful one, who, when (something) is given to him, gives thanks, and when he is tried, is patient."
