Tafseer of Sheba · Saba · 34:8
Has he invented about Allah a lie or is there in him madness?" Rather, they who do not believe in the Hereafter will be in the punishment and [are in] extreme error.
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 statement concerning the explanation of His saying, exalted is He: أَفْتَرَى عَلَى اللَّهِ كَذِبًا أَمْ بِهِ جِنَّةٌ بَلِ الَّذِينَ لا يُؤْمِنُونَ بِالآخِرَةِ فِي الْعَذَابِ وَالضَّلالِ الْبَعِيدِ (8) (Has he invented a lie about Allah, or is he possessed by madness? No, those who do not believe in the Hereafter are in the punishment and the far-reaching error.) (34:8)
He, exalted be His remembrance, says, reporting the saying of these who were unbelieving in Him and who denied the resurrection after death, as they said to one another, in amazement at the Messenger of Allah — Allah's blessing and peace be upon him — on account of his promise to them of that: Has this one who promises us that we, after we have been completely torn apart, shall be in a new creation, invented a lie about Allah, and thus fabricated a false saying about Him and invented a mendacious claim about Him? أَمْ بِهِ جِنَّةٌ ("or is he possessed by madness"), that is to say: or is he insane, so that he speaks with that which has no meaning?
And just as we have said concerning that, so said the people of interpretation (ahl al-taʾwīl).
* Mention of who said that:
Bishr related to us, he said: Yazīd related to us, he said: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, he said: They said by way of denial: أَفْتَرَى عَلَى اللَّهِ كَذِبًا ("Has he invented a lie about Allah?"). He said: They said: Either he lies about Allah, أَمْ بِهِ جِنَّةٌ ("or is he possessed by madness"), or he is insane. بَلِ الَّذِينَ لا يُؤْمِنُونَ ... ("No, those who do not believe..."), the verse.
Yūnus related to me, he said: Ibn Wahb informed us, he said: Ibn Zayd said: Then they said to one another: أَفْتَرَى عَلَى اللَّهِ كَذِبًا أَمْ بِهِ جِنَّةٌ ("Has he invented a lie about Allah, or is he possessed by madness?") — the man is insane, so that he speaks with that which he does not understand. Then Allah said: الَّذِينَ لا يُؤْمِنُونَ بِالآخِرَةِ فِي الْعَذَابِ وَالضَّلالِ الْبَعِيدِ ("those who do not believe in the Hereafter are in the punishment and the far-reaching error").
And His saying بَلِ الَّذِينَ لا يُؤْمِنُونَ بِالآخِرَةِ فِي الْعَذَابِ وَالضَّلالِ الْبَعِيدِ ("No, those who do not believe in the Hereafter are in the punishment and the far-reaching error"): He, exalted be His remembrance, says: The matter is not as these polytheists (mushrikīn) have said about Muḥammad — Allah's blessing and peace be upon him — and have surmised about him, namely that he invented a lie about Allah, or that he is possessed by madness. Rather, those who do not believe in the Hereafter, among these polytheists, are in the punishment (ʿadhāb) of Allah in the Hereafter, and in the far-reaching straying from the way of the truth and from the straight path. For that reason they say about him what they say.
Yūnus ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to me, he said: Ibn Wahb informed us, he said: Ibn Zayd said: Allah said بَلِ الَّذِينَ لا يُؤْمِنُونَ بِالآخِرَةِ فِي الْعَذَابِ وَالضَّلالِ الْبَعِيدِ ("No, those who do not believe in the Hereafter are in the punishment and the far-reaching error"), and He commanded him to swear to them, so that they might take heed, and he recited: قُلْ بَلَى وَرَبِّي لَتُبْعَثُنَّ ثُمَّ لَتُنَبَّؤُنَّ ... ("Say: 'Yes indeed, by my Lord, you will surely be resurrected, and then you will surely be informed...'"), the whole verse, and he recited: قُلْ بَلَى وَرَبِّي لَتَأْتِيَنَّكُمْ ("Say: 'Yes indeed, by my Lord, it will surely come to you'").
The alif in His saying أَفْتَرَى عَلَى اللَّهِ ("has he invented about Allah") is elided both in pausing and in joining; it is pronounced with fatḥa because it is the alif of interrogation (istifhām). As for the alif that follows it, which is the alif of iftaʿala, it falls away because it is light and added and falls away when the words are strung together. Its counterpart is سَوَاءٌ عَلَيْهِمْ أَسْتَغْفَرْتَ لَهُمْ ("It is equal for them whether you ask forgiveness for them") and بِيَدَيَّ أَسْتَكْبَرْتَ ("with My two hands — have you behaved arrogantly?") and أَصْطَفَى الْبَنَاتِ ("has He chosen the daughters?") and the like. As for the alif of آلآنَ ("now then?") and آلذَّكَرَيْنِ ("the two males?"), however, that is lengthened whereas the first-mentioned is not lengthened, because āl-ān and āl-dhakarayn [originally] stood with fatḥa; if it were to be omitted, there would be no distinction between the question and the statement, so the lengthening was introduced therein as a distinction between the question and the statement. But the alif of interrogation stands with fatḥa, so both [in the first-mentioned cases] were already distinguished thereby, and that distinction made the lengthening unnecessary.
