Tafseer of Sheba · Saba · 34:22
Say, [O Muhammad], "Invoke those you claim [as deities] besides Allah." They do not possess an atom's weight [of ability] in the heavens or on the earth, and they do not have therein any partnership [with Him], nor is there for Him from among them any assistant.
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 explanation of the saying of the Exalted: Zeg: Roept hen aan die jullie buiten Allah beweren (goden te zijn); zij bezitten niet het gewicht van een stofdeeltje in de hemelen, noch op de aarde, en zij hebben geen aandeel in die beide, en Hij heeft onder hen geen helper (34:22).
The Exalted, whose mention is exalted, says: This, then, is Our way of dealing with Our protected one and with whoever obeys Us — Dāwūd and Sulaymān — namely, what We did with the two of them in the way of blessings that We bestowed upon them, blessings for which there is no equivalent, when they were grateful to Us. And that is Our way of dealing with Sabaʾ, namely, what We did with them when they arrogantly rejected Our favor, denied Our messengers, and ungratefully spurned Our benefactions. So say, O Muḥammad (the Prophet ﷺ), to these among your people who assign associates to their Lord and deny Our blessings upon them: Call upon, O people, those of whom you claim that they are for Allah an associate alongside Him, and ask them to perform for you something of Our deeds toward those whose affair We have described, in the form of blessing or despair; and if they are not able to do that, then know that you are in error, for associationism in lordship (rubūbiyya) is neither valid nor permissible. Then He described those whom they call upon besides Allah, and said: Indeed, they do not possess the weight of a mote in the heavens, nor on the earth, neither in good nor in evil, neither in harm nor in benefit; how, then, can he be a god who is in such a state?
And His saying en zij hebben geen aandeel in die beide: The Exalted, whose mention is exalted, says: Nor do they possess — when they do not own the weight of a mote in the heavens, nor on the earth, separately and exclusively besides Allah — anything in the form of association; for ownership rights over possessions can accrue to their owner only in one of two ways: either divided (maqsūm), or undivided in common ownership (mushāʿ). He says: And their gods whom they call upon besides Allah do not possess the weight of a mote in the heavens, nor on the earth, neither in common ownership nor divided; how, then, can he who is in such a state be an associate of Him to whom the ownership of all of that belongs?
And His saying en Hij heeft onder hen geen helper: He says: And Allah has, among the gods whom they call upon besides Him, no helper in the creation of any of that, nor in its preservation, since they possess ownership of none of it, neither in common ownership nor divided, such that it could be said: He is for You an associate because he rendered help, even though he possesses nothing of it.
And as we have said, the scholars of exegesis have also said.
* Mention of who said that:
Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning His saying Zeg: Roept hen aan die jullie buiten Allah beweren (goden te zijn); zij bezitten niet het gewicht van een stofdeeltje in de hemelen, noch op de aarde, en zij hebben geen aandeel in die beide: he says: Allah has no associate in the heaven, nor on the earth. en Hij heeft onder hen — among those whom they call upon besides Allah — geen helper: no helper in anything.
