Tafseer of Sheba · Saba · 34:54
And prevention will be placed between them and what they desire, as was done with their kind before. Indeed, they were in disquieting denial.
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 words of the Exalted: وَحِيلَ بَيْنَهُمْ وَبَيْنَ مَا يَشْتَهُونَ كَمَا فُعِلَ بِأَشْيَاعِهِمْ مِنْ قَبْلُ إِنَّهُمْ كَانُوا فِي شَكٍّ مُرِيبٍ (And a barrier was placed between them and that for which they longed, as was done with their likes before them; truly, they were in a doubt that arouses suspicion) (54).
The Exalted, whose praise is exalted, says: a barrier was placed between these polytheists (mushrikīn) — when they were terrified, and there was no escape, and they were seized from a nearby place, and they said: "We believe in it" — and that for which they longed, namely at that moment belief in that in which, before that instant, they had disbelieved in the worldly life; and there was no longer any way for them to attain it.
And in accordance with what we have said concerning this, the people of interpretation (ahl al-taʾwīl) have spoken.
* Mention of those who said that:
Ismāʿīl ibn Ḥafṣ al-Ublī related to me, saying: al-Muʿtamir related to us, on the authority of Abū al-Ashhab, on the authority of al-Ḥasan, concerning His words And a barrier was placed between them and that for which they longed, he said: a barrier was placed between them and belief in Allah.
Ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: Muʾammal related to us, saying: Sufyān related to us, on the authority of ʿAbd al-Ṣamad, saying: I heard al-Ḥasan when he was asked about this verse And a barrier was placed between them and that for which they longed, he said: a barrier was placed between them and belief.
Ibn Abī Ziyād related to me, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Abū al-Ashhab related to us, on the authority of al-Ḥasan And a barrier was placed between them and that for which they longed, he said: a barrier was placed between them and belief.
Aḥmad ibn ʿAbd al-Ṣamad al-Anṣārī related to us, saying: Abū Usāma related to us, on the authority of Shibl, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid And a barrier was placed between them and that for which they longed, he said: namely, the return to the worldly life in order to show repentance.
Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda And a barrier was placed between them and that for which they longed: the people longed for the obedience to Allah which they would have performed in the worldly life, when they beheld what they beheld.
Al-Ḥasan ibn Wāḍiḥ related to us, saying: al-Ḥasan ibn Ḥabīb related to us, saying: Abū al-Ashhab related to us, on the authority of al-Ḥasan, concerning His words And a barrier was placed between them and that for which they longed, he said: a barrier was placed between them and belief.
And others said: the meaning of that is that a barrier was placed between them and that for which they longed of wealth, children, and the splendor of the worldly life.
* Mention of those who said that:
Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr related to me, saying: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us, saying: ʿĪsā related to us, saying: al-Ḥārith related to me, saying: al-Ḥasan related to us, saying: Warqāʾ related to us — all of them — on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning the words of Allah And a barrier was placed between them and that for which they longed, he said: of wealth or children or splendor.
Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Ibn Zayd said, concerning His words And a barrier was placed between them and that for which they longed, he said: namely, the worldly life in which they were, and life. And we have chosen the view which we have chosen, because the people indeed longed — when they beheld of the punishment of Allah what they beheld — for that of which Allah has informed concerning them that they longed for it, and they said: "We believe in it." Then Allah said: and how could they attain that from a distant place, while before that instant they had already disbelieved in the worldly life? If that is so, then it is more likely that His words And a barrier was placed between them and that for which they longed are an announcement that there is no way for them to that for which they longed, than that they are an announcement about something else.
And His words as was done with their likes before them mean: We dealt with these polytheists; We placed a barrier between them and that for which they longed of belief in Allah upon the descent of Allah's wrath over them and their beholding of His power, just as We dealt with their likes for their disbelief in Allah, namely the disbelievers of the communities before them; We did not accept from them at that moment their belief, just as at such a moment We accepted nothing from their kind.
And "al-ashyāʿ" is the plural of "shiyaʿ", and "shiyaʿ" is the plural of "shīʿa"; so "ashyāʿ" is the plural of the plural.
And in accordance with what we have said concerning this, the people of interpretation have spoken.
* Mention of those 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 — all of them — on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ as was done with their likes before them, he said: the disbelievers before them.
Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda as was done with their likes before them, that is to say: in the worldly life, when they beheld the punishment, their belief was not accepted.
And His words truly, they were in a doubt that arouses suspicion — the Exalted, whose praise is exalted, says: and a barrier was placed between these polytheists, when they beheld Allah's power, and belief; truly, they were beforehand in the worldly life in doubt about the descent of the punishment that descended over them and which they beheld, while their prophet had already informed them that, if they did not turn back from that upon which they persisted — disbelief in Allah and the worship of the idols — Allah would destroy them and bring down His punishment over them, in the near of the worldly life and in the far of the hereafter, before it descended over them. "Murīb" means: that which produces in the one who bears it something that instills suspicion in him, something abhorrent, derived from their saying "arāba al-rajul" when he commits something suspicious and perpetrates a disgraceful deed, as the rajaz-poet said:
"O my people, what is there between me and Abū Dhuʾayb? When I came to him from a far land, he sniffed at my side and felt my garment, as though I had done to him something suspicious."
He says: as though I had done to him something suspicious.
End of Surah Sabaʾ.
