34:45 Saba (Sheba)

ثم خوفهم ما فعل بالأمم المكذبين [قبلهم] فقال: { وَكَذَّبَ الَّذِينَ مِنْ قَبْلِهِمْ وَمَا بَلَغُوا } أي: ما بلغ هؤلاء المخاطبون { مِعْشَارَ مَا آتَيْنَاهُمْ } { فَكَذَّبُوا } أي: الأمم الذين من قبلهم { رُسُلِي فَكَيْفَ كَانَ نَكِيرِ } أي: إنكاري عليهم, وعقوبتي إياهم. قد أعلمنا ما فعل بهم من النكال, وأن منهم من أغرقه, ومنهم من أهلكه بالريح العقيم, وبالصيحة, وبالرجفة, وبالخسف بالأرض, وبإرسال الحاصب من السماء، فاحذروا يا هؤلاء المكذبون, أن تدوموا على التكذيب, فيأخذكم كما أخذ من قبلكم, ويصيبكم ما أصابهم.

قال تعالى " وكذب الذين من قبلهم " أي من الأمم " وما بلغوا معشار ما آتيناهم " قال ابن عباس رضي الله عنهما أي من القوة في الدنيا وكذا قال قتادة والسدي وابن زيد كما قال تعالى " ولقد مكناهم فيما إن مكناكم فيه وجعلنا لهم سمعا وأبصارا وأفئدة فما أغنى عنهم سمعهم ولا أبصارهم ولا أفئدتهم من شيء إذ كانوا يجحدون بآيات الله وحاق بهم ما كانوا به يستهزئون أفلم يسيروا فى الأرض فينظروا كيف كان عاقبة الذين من قبلهم كانوا أكثر منهم وأشد قوة " أي وما دفع ذلك عنهم عذاب الله ولا رده بل دمر الله عليهم لما كذبوا رسله ولهذا قال "فكذبوا رسلي فكيف كان نكير" أي فكيف كان عقابي ونكالي وانتصاري لرسلي.

The Saying of the Disbelievers about the Prophets, and its refutation

Allah tells us that the disbeliever deserve to be severely punished by Him, because when His clear Verses were recited to them, and they heard them fresh from the lips of His Messenger , they said:

قَالُواْ مَا هَـذَا إِلاَّ رَجُلٌ يُرِيدُ أَن يَصُدَّكُمْ عَمَّا كَانَ يَعْبُدُ ءَابَآؤُكُمْ

(They say: "This is naught but a man who wishes to hinder you from that which your fathers used to worship.") meaning, that the religion of their fathers was the truth and that what the Messenger brought to them was false -- may the curse of Allah be upon them and their fathers!

وَقَالُواْ مَا هَـذَآ إِلاَّ إِفْكٌ مُّفْتَرًى

(And they say: "This is nothing but an invented lie.") referring to the Qur'an. l

وَقَالَ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُواْ لِلْحَقِّ لَمَّا جَآءَهُمْ إِنْ هَـذَآ إِلاَّ سِحْرٌ مُّبِينٌ

(And those who disbelieve say of the truth when it has come to them: "This is nothing but evident magic!") Allah says:

وَمَآ ءَاتَيْنَـهُمْ مِّنْ كُتُبٍ يَدْرُسُونَهَا وَمَآ أَرْسَلْنَا إِلَيْهِمْ قَبْلَكَ مِّن نَّذِيرٍ

(And We had not given them Scriptures that they could study, nor sent to them before you any warner) meaning, Allah did not reveal any Book to the Arabs before the Qur'an, and He did not send any Prophet to them before Muhammad ﷺ . They used to wish for that and say, `if only a warner comes to us or a Book is revealed to us, we would be more guided than others,' but when Allah blessed them with that, they disbelieved him and stubbornly rejected him. Then Allah says:

وَكَذَّبَ الَّذِينَ مِن قَبلِهِمْ

(And those before them denied;) meaning, other nations.

وَمَا بَلَغُواْ مِعْشَارَ مَآ ءَاتَيْنَـهُمْ

(these have not received even a tenth of what We had granted to those (of old);) Ibn `Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him, said, "Of the power of this world." This was also the view of Qatadah, As-Suddi and Ibn Zayd. This is like the Ayat:

وَلَقَدْ مَكَّنَـهُمْ فِيمَآ إِن مَّكَّنَّـكُمْ فِيهِ وَجَعَلْنَا لَهُمْ سَمْعاً وَأَبْصَـراً وَأَفْئِدَةً فَمَآ أَغْنَى عَنْهُمْ سَمْعُهُمْ وَلاَ أَبْصَـرُهُمْ وَلاَ أَفْئِدَتُهُمْ مِّن شَىْءٍ إِذْ كَانُواْ يَجْحَدُونَ بِـَايَـتِ اللَّهِ وَحَاقَ بِهم مَّا كَانُواْ بِهِ يَسْتَهْزِءُونَ

(And indeed We had firmly established them with that wherewith We have not established you! And We had assigned them the hearing, seeing, and hearts; but their hearing, seeing, and their hearts availed them nothing since they used to deny the Ayat of Allah, and they were completely encircled by that which they used to mock at!) (46: 26)

أَفَلَمْ يَسِيرُواْ فِى الاٌّرْضِ فَيَنظُرُواْ كَيْفَ كَانَ عَـقِبَةُ الَّذِينَ مِن قَبْلِهِمْ كَانُواْ أَكْـثَرَ مِنْهُمْ وَأَشَدَّ قُوَّةً

(Have they not traveled through the earth and seen what was the end of those before them They were more in number than them and mightier in strength) (40:82). but that did not protect them from the punishment of Allah, and Allah destroyed them because they denied His Messengers. Allah says:

فَكَذَّبُواْ رُسُلِى فَكَيْفَ كَانَ نَكِيرِ

(yet they denied My Messengers. Then how (terrible) was My denial!) meaning, `how severe was My wrath and how great was My avenging of My Messengers.'

And those who were before them also denied and they these ones the Meccans have not received even a tenth of what We gave those others in the way of might long life and abundance of wealth. Yet they denied My messengers who were sent to them so how was My abhorrence! so how was My rebuttal against them through punishment and destruction in other words it was appropriate.

Commentary

The word: مِعْشَارَ‌ (mi'shar) in verse 45: وَمَا بَلَغُوا مِعْشَارَ‌ مَا آتَيْنَاهُمْ (while these (infidels of Makkah) have not reached even one tenth of what We gave to those (before them) has been taken to mean: عُشُر ('ushr: a tenth) by some early commentators. Some scholars have interpreted it as: عُشرُ العُشر (ushr-ul-` ushr: a hundredth) while others call it: عُشرُ العَشِیر (` ushr-ul ` ashir: a thousandth). Obviously, the later has a higher degree of exaggeration as compared to 'ushr or ten. The sense of the verse is that not even a tenth, rather a thousandth, of the worldly wealth, power, blessings of age and health given to earlier communities was received by the people of Makkah. Therefore, they should take lesson from what happened to past communities and the evil end they faced. These were people who invited upon themselves the wrath of Allah when they rejected prophets and messengers and, consequently, when came the actual punishment, their power, bravery, wealth and fortified fortresses could do nothing for them.