34. Saba-(Sheba) Mecca 58 [54 verses]

The Quranic Text & Ali’s Version:

الْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ ...

34:1 Praise be to Allah,

C3785. All Creation declares His Praises, i.e., manifests His Mercy and Power, Goodness and Truth, all the sublime attributes summed up in His Most Beautiful Names (7:180 and 17:110 and notes).

For man to contemplate these is in itself a Revelation. This sentiment opens five Surahs of the Quran evenly distributed, viz., Surah 1, 6, 18, 34, and 35. Here the point most emphasised is that His wisdom and mercy comprehend all things, extended in space or in time-here and everywhere, now and evermore. (R).

... الَّذِي لَهُ مَا فِي السَّمَاوَاتِ وَمَا فِي الْأَرْضِ...

to Whom belong all things in the heavens and on earth:

... وَلَهُ الْحَمْدُ فِي الْآخِرَةِ...

to Him be Praise in the Hereafter:

... وَهُوَ الْحَكِيمُ الْخَبِيرُ ﴿١﴾

and He is Full of Wisdom, acquainted with all things.

يَعْلَمُ مَا يَلِجُ فِي الْأَرْضِ وَمَا يَخْرُجُ مِنْهَا...

34: 2. He knows all that goes into the earth, and all that comes out thereof;

C3786. An ignorant man may think that water absorbed in the soil or seed sown beneath the sod is lost, but it replenishes numerous rills, and streams, and feeds and sustains numerous roots and forms of life, and throws up all kinds of vegetable life.

So with things that come out of the earth: who can count the myriad forms of herbs and trees that grow and perish, and yet sustain a continuous life for ages and ages?

Yet these are symbolical of other things or entities beyond time or space, and beyond physical form. We see the birth and death of the animal part of man: When he is buried beneath the soil, the ignorant man thinks there is an end of him.

But what countless stages still lie before him for his inner and spiritual life?

And so with the Platonic Forms of Things: Goodness, Virtue, Mercy, and the various functions of the soul. They are never lost, but go up to Allah.

... وَمَا يَنزِلُ مِنَ السَّمَاء وَمَا يَعْرُجُ فِيهَا...

all that comes down from the sky and all that ascends thereto:

C3787. The vapours that rise from the earth and ascend to the sky descend again as rain and snow and as symbols of Allah's Mercy. So are the prayers of the devout and the call of those in agony for help and light, answered by the descent of mercy and guidance, help and light from the Throne of Majesty.

The Imagery indicated in the last note can be worked out to moral and spiritual forces, and they all centre in Allah.

Do not forget that, just as there is the element of Mercy, so there is an element of Justice and Punishment - in the physical forces as well as in the moral and spiritual forces, all centering in Allah.

... وَهُوَ الرَّحِيمُ الْغَفُورُ ﴿٢﴾

and He is the Most Merciful, the Oft-Forgiving.

Asad’s Version:

34:1 ALL PRAISE is due to God, to whom all that is in the heavens and all that is on earth belongs; and to Him will be due all praise in the life to come. For He alone is truly wise, all-aware:

(34:2) He knows all that enters the earth, and all that comes out of it, as well as all that descends from the skies, and all that ascends to them. 1 And He alone is a dispenser of grace, truly-forgiving.

[[Asad’s note - 1 This definition comprises things physical and spiritual: waters disappearing underground and reappearing; the metamorphosis of seed into plant, and of decaying plant into oil and coal; traces of old artifacts and entire civilizations buried in the earth and then reappearing within the sight and consciousness of later generations of men; the transformation of dead bodies of animals and men into elements of nourishment for new life; the ascent of earthy vapours towards the skies, and their descent as rain, snow or hail; the ascent towards the heavens of men's longings, hopes and ambitions, and the descent of divine inspiration into the minds of men, and thus a revival of faith and thought and, with it, the growth of new artifacts, new skills and new hopes: in short, the endless recurrence of birth, death and re-birth which characterizes all of God's creation. ]]