Tafseer of Sheba · Saba · 34:53
And they had already disbelieved in it before and would assault the unseen from a place far away.
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: وَقَدْ كَفَرُوا بِهِ مِنْ قَبْلُ وَيَقْذِفُونَ بِالْغَيْبِ مِنْ مَكَانٍ بَعِيدٍ (34:53) (While they had disbelieved in it before; and they hurl conjectures at the unseen from a distant place.) (34:53)
The Exalted, whose remembrance is exalted, says: (وَقَدْ كَفَرُوا بِهِ) He says: while they disbelieved in that which they ask their Lord for when the punishment descends upon them and they witness it with their own eyes, namely that it be turned away from them — and that is faith in Allah and in Muḥammad, Allah's blessing and peace be upon him, and in what he brought them from Allah.
And in accordance with what we have said concerning this, the people of interpretation (ahl al-taʾwīl) have spoken.
* Mention of who said that:
Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda (وَقَدْ كَفَرُوا بِهِ مِنْ قَبْلُ): that is to say: in the faith, in the worldly life.
And His saying (وَيَقْذِفُونَ بِالْغَيْبِ مِنْ مَكَانٍ بَعِيدٍ) He says: and today they hurl conjectures at the unseen toward Muḥammad from a distant place, that is to say that they assail him — and what has come to them of the Book of Allah — with suppositions and imaginings. Some of them say: he is a sorcerer, others: a poet, and still other than that.
And in accordance with what we have said concerning this, the people of interpretation have spoken.
* Mention of who said that:
Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr related to me, saying: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us, saying: ʿĪsā related to us; and al-Ḥārith related to me, saying: al-Ḥasan related to us, saying: Warqāʾ related to us — both on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning His saying (وَيَقْذِفُونَ بِالْغَيْبِ مِنْ مَكَانٍ بَعِيدٍ), he said: their claim: a sorcerer, nay rather a soothsayer, nay rather a poet.
Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda (وَيَقْذِفُونَ بِالْغَيْبِ مِنْ مَكَانٍ بَعِيدٍ): that is to say: they hurl conjecture, they say: there is no resurrection, and no Paradise and no Fire.
Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Ibn Zayd said, concerning His saying (وَيَقْذِفُونَ بِالْغَيْبِ مِنْ مَكَانٍ بَعِيدٍ), he said: with the Qurʾān.
