Sura-34 [Saba Mecca 58]

The Quranic Text & Ali’s version:

أَفَلَمْ يَرَوْا إِلَى مَا بَيْنَ أَيْدِيهِمْ وَمَا خَلْفَهُم مِّنَ السَّمَاء وَالْأَرْضِ...

34:9 [Ali] See they not what is before them and behind them, of the sky and the earth?

C3796. The men who walk in spiritual darkness and laugh at a Hereafter have but to observe the Power of Allah in the nature around them.

He Who created the heavens and the earth and sustains them can surely make a new Creation! And the cosmic Laws which are so just and inevitable should surely give them an idea of the inexorable Justice that must redress all balance.

... إِن نَّشَأْ نَخْسِفْ بِهِمُ الْأَرْضَ أَوْ نُسْقِطْ عَلَيْهِمْ ...

If We wished, We could cause the earth to swallow them up,

C3797. Cf. 16:45, and n. 2071.

Who are these puny creatures-skeptics that question the might and majesty of Allah?

... كِسَفًا مِّنَ السَّمَاء...

or cause a piece of the sky to fall upon them.

C3798. Cf. 26:187.

This was actually a challenge hurled at Shu'aib and a shower of ashes and cinders came from above and overwhelmed the challengers!

... إِنَّ فِي ذَلِكَ لَآيَةً لِّكُلِّ عَبْدٍ مُّنِيبٍ ﴿٩﴾

Verily in this is a Sign for every devotee that turns to Allah (in repentance).

Asad’s Version:

34:9 Are they, then, not aware of how little of the sky and the earth lies open before them, and how much is hidden from them? 6 - [or that,] if We so willed, We could cause the earth to swallow them, 7 or cause fragments of the sky to fall down upon them? 8 In all this, behold, there is a message indeed for every servant [of God] who is wont to turn unto Him [in repentance].'

[[ Asad’s notes - 6 Lit., "... not aware of what of the sky and the earth is between their hands, and what is behind them": an idiomatic phrase explained in surah 2, note 247. In the present context - as well as in 2:255 - the above phrase stresses the insignificance of the knowledge attained to by man, or accessible to him; hence, so the argument goes, how can anyone be so presumptuous as to deny the reality of resurrection and life after death, seeing that it is a phenomenon beyond maris experience, while, on the other hand, everything within the universe points to God's unlimited creative power"

7 I.e., in an earthquake.

8 This allusion to unpredictable geological and cosmic occurrences - earthquakes, the fall of meteors and meteorites, cosmic rays, and so forth - reinforces the statement about "how little of the sky and the earth ties open before them, and how much is hidden from them", and contrasts maris insignificance with God's omniscience and almightiness.

9 See last sentence of 24:31 and the corresponding note 41. ]]