Surah Saba Ayat 3 in Arabic Text
English Translation
Here you can read various translations of verse 3
But those who disbelieve say, “The Hour will not come to us.” Say, “Yes, by my Lord, it will surely come to you. [Allah is] the Knower of the unseen.” Not absent from Him is an atom’s weight within the heavens or within the earth or [what is] smaller than that or greater, except that it is in a clear register –
The Unbelievers say, “Never to us will come the Hour”: Say, “Nay! but most surely, by my Lord, it will come upon you;- by Him Who knows the unseen,- from Whom is not hidden the least little atom in the heavens or on earth: Nor is there anything less than that, or greater, but is in the Record Perspicuous:
The unbelievers say: “How come the Hour is not coming upon us!” Say to them: “Yes indeed, by my Lord, by Him Who fully knows the realm beyond the ken of perception, that the Hour shall inevitably come upon you. Nothing escapes Him, not even the smallest particle in the heavens or the earth; nor is anything smaller or bigger than that but is in a Manifest Book.”
Those who disbelieve say: “The Hour will not come to us.” Say: “Yes, by my Lord, it will come to you.” (Allah, He is) the AllKnower of the unseen, not even the weight of an atom (or a small ant) or less than that or greater, escapes from His Knowledge in the heavens or in the earth, but it is in a Clear Book (AlLauh AlMahfuz).
Those who disbelieve say: The Hour will never come unto us. Say: Nay, by my Lord, but it is coming unto you surely. (He is) the Knower of the Unseen. Not an atom’s weight, or less than that or greater, escapeth Him in the heavens or in the earth, but it is in a clear Record,
And the ones who disbelieve have said, “The Hour will not come up to us.” Say, “Yes indeed, by my Lord, indeed it will definitely come up to you. (He is) The Knower of the Unseen; not so much as an atom’s weight in the heavens or in the earth shifts away from Him; neither is anything smaller than that, or greater, except that it is in an Evident Book,
Still, the disbelievers say, ‘The Last Hour will never come upon us.’ Say, ‘Yes, by my Lord, [it will], by Him who knows the unseen! Not even the weight of a speck of dust in the heavens or earth escapes His knowledge, nor anything smaller or greater. It is all recorded in a clear Record
کفار کہتے ہیں کہ ہم پر قیامت نہیں آئے گی۔ آپ کہہ دیجیئے! کہ مجھے میرے رب کی قسم! جو عالم الغیب ہے کہ وه یقیناً تم پر آئے گی اللہ تعالیٰ سے ایک ذرے کے برابر کی چیز بھی پوشیده نہیں نہ آسمانوں میں اور نہ زمین میں بلکہ اس سے بھی چھوٹی اور بڑی چیز کھلی کتاب میں موجود ہے
Quran 34 Verse 3 Explanation
For those looking for commentary to help with the understanding of Surah Saba ayat 3, we’ve provided two Tafseer works below. The first is the tafseer of Abul Ala Maududi, the second is of Ibn Kathir.
Ala-Maududi
(34:3) The unbelievers say: “How come the Hour is not coming upon us!”[5] Say to them: “Yes indeed, by my Lord, by Him Who fully knows the realm beyond the ken of perception, that the Hour shall inevitably come upon you.[6]Nothing escapes Him, not even the smallest particle in the heavens or the earth; nor is anything smaller or bigger than that but is in a Manifest Book.”[7]
5. This they said satirically and mockingly. What they meant was: “This Prophet (peace be upon him) has been giving us the news of his coming of Resurrection for along time now, but Resurrection has not overtaken us so far although we have openly denied and rejected him as a Prophet, have been insolent to him and have ridiculed him in every way.
6. The use of the attribute “Knower of the unseen” for Allah while swearing by him by itself points to the fact that the coming of Resurrection is certain, but no one knows except Allah, Knower of the unseen, when exactly it will come. This same theme has been explained at different places in the Quran in various ways. For details, see (Surah Al-Aaraf, Ayat 187), (Surah TaHa, Ayat 15), (Surah Luqman, Ayat 34), (Surah Al-Ahzab, Ayat 63), (Surah Al-Mulk, Ayat 25-26), (Surah An-Naziat, Ayat 42-44).
7. This is one of the arguments for the possibility of the Hereafter as is being stated in (Surah Saba, Ayat 7) below. One of the reasons why the deniers of the Hereafter regarded the lifeafter- death as irrational was; They said that when all human beings will have become dust after death, and scattered away in particles, how it will be possible to bring all the countless particles together and combine them to be re-created as the same human bodies once again. This doubt has been dispelled, saying, “Every particle wherever it is, is recorded in God’s register, and God knows where a particle is. Therefore, when He wills to recreate, He will not face any difficulty in gathering together all the particles of the body of each and every man.”
Ibn-Kathir
3. Those who disbelieve say: “The Hour will not come to us.” Say: “Yes, by my Lord, the All-Knower of the Unseen, it will come to you; not even the weight of a speck of dust or less than that or greater escapes His knowledge in the heavens or in the earth but it is in a Clear Book.” 4. That He may recompense those who believe and do righteous good deeds. Those, theirs is forgiveness and generous provision. 5. But those who strive against Our Ayat to frustrate them — those, for them will be a severe painful torment. 6. And those who have been given knowledge see that what is revealed to you from your Lord is the truth, and that it guides to the path of the Exalted in might, Owner of all praise.
This is one of three Ayat — there is no fourth — where Allah commands His Messenger to swear by His Almighty Lord that the resurrection will surely come, because the stubborn followers of disbelief denied that it would happen. One of these Ayat is in Surah Yunus, where Allah says:
(And they ask you to inform them (saying): “Is it true” Say: “Yes! By my Lord! It is the very truth! and you cannot escape it!”) (10:53). The second of these Ayat is this one:
(Those who disbelieve say: “The Hour will not come to us.” Say: “Yes, by my Lord, it will come to you…”). And the third of them appears in Surat At-Taghabun, where Allah says:
(The disbelievers pretend that they will never be resurrected (for reckoning). Say: “Yes! By my Lord, you will certainly be resurrected, then you will be informed of what you did; and that is easy for Allah”) (64:7). And Allah says here:
(Say: “Yes, by my Lord, it will come to you…”) Then Allah is described in a manner that affirms that:
(the All-Knower of the Unseen, not even the weight of a speck of dust or less than that or greater escapes His knowledge in the heavens or in the earth but it is in a Clear Book.) Mujahid and Qatadah said, “Nothing is hidden or concealed from Him.” In other words, everything is encompassed by His knowledge, and nothing is hidden from Him. Even though bones may be scattered and disintegrate, He knows where they have gone and where they have dispersed, then He will bring them back just as He created them in the first place, because He has knowledge of all things. Then Allah tells us of His wisdom in re-creating bodies and bringing about the Hour, as He says:
(That He may recompense those who believe and do righteous good deeds. Those, theirs is forgiveness and generous provision. But those who strive against Our Ayat to frustrate them) meaning, those who try to turn others away from the path of Allah and who disbelieve His Messengers,
(those, for them will be a severe painful torment.) This means, He will bestow His favor upon the blessed, who are the believers, and will punish the doomed, who are the disbelievers. This is like the Ayah:
(Not equal are the dwellers of the Fire and the dwellers of the Paradise. It is the dwellers of Paradise that will be successful.) (59:20)
(Shall We treat those who believe and do righteous good deeds like those who cause mischief on the earth Or shall We treat those who have Taqwa as the evildoers) (38:28)
(And those who have been given knowledge see that what is revealed to you from your Lord is the truth,) This is another kind of wisdom, following on from the one before, which is that when those who believed in what was revealed to the Messengers see the onset of the Hour and how the righteous and the wicked will be rewarded and punished respectively, which they knew of beforehand in this world from the Books of Allah and which they are now seeing with their own eyes, they will say:
(Indeed, the Messengers of our Lord did come with the truth) (7:43). And it will be said:
(This is what the Most Gracious had promised, and the Messengers spoke truth!) ﴿36:52﴾
(Indeed you have stayed according to the decree of Allah, until the Day of Resurrection; so this is the Day of Resurrection) (30:56),
(And those who have been given knowledge see that what is revealed to you from your Lord is the truth, and that it guides to the path of the Exalted in might, Owner of all praise.) The Exalted in might is the One Who is All-Powerful, Whom none can overwhelm or resist, but He subjugates and controls all things. The Owner of All praise is the One Who, in all His words, deeds, laws and decrees, is deserving of praise, may He be glorified and exalted.
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