Surah Saba' 34:44
ﲓ ﲔ ﲕ ﲖ ﲗ ﲘ ﲙ ﲚ ﲛ ﲜ ﲝ ﲞ
And We had not given them any scriptures which they could study, and We had not sent to them before you, [O Muhammad], any warner.
Tafsir of Saba' 34:44
Tafsir
Ruh al-Ma'ani
Verse range: 34:44
{And We had not given them}—that is, the people of Mecca—{any scriptures which they could study}—which would necessitate the validity of polytheism, so that they might be excused for it. It is like His saying, the Almighty: "Or have We sent down to them a sultan [authority] which speaks of that which they used to associate with Him?" and His saying, the Almighty: "Or have We given them a scripture before it, so they are holding fast to it?" Ibn Zayd adopted this view.
Al-Suddi said: The meaning is, "We have not given them any scriptures to study," such that they would know through their study the invalidity of what you have brought. This returns to the first interpretation, and the objective is to negate that they possess any evidence for the validity of the polytheism they are upon. The use of min (any) as a connective and the pluralization of "scriptures" is an indication, as has been said, that because of its extreme invalidity and the impossibility of proving it by any revelatory or rational evidence, it would require repeated and strong proofs. How then can that be claimed when luminous proofs have been transmitted successively to the contrary?
Abu Haywah read yudarrisunaha (they study it) derived from al-tadris, which is the repetition of study, or from darasa al-kitab (he studied the book) as a light form, while darrasa al-kutub (he studied the books) is the intensive form; the doubling [shadda] here is in consideration of the plural.
{And We had not sent to them before you any warner}—that is, We have not sent to them before you a warner who would call them to polytheism and warn them of punishment for abandoning it. It has already been made clear that there is no basis for such a claim in any way, shape, or form; so from where did they derive this deviant path? In this, there is an obvious level of mockery and casting of ignorance.
It is also permissible that the meaning is that they were illiterate people who existed in an interval (fatra); they have no excuse for their polytheism, nor for failing to respond to you, unlike the People of the Scripture who possess scriptures and a religion they refuse to abandon, arguing against following you by claiming that their prophet warned them against abandoning their religion—even though this is clearly false due to the established command of those before them to follow you and the glad tidings of you in their scriptures.
Ibn Atiyyah mentioned that the earth has never been devoid of a caller to the oneness of Allah, the Almighty; thus, the intent is the negation of sending a warner specifically designated for them to address them directly. The Arabs possessed much of the warning of Ishmael, peace be upon him—and Allah, the Almighty, says: "Indeed, he was true to his promise and he was a messenger and a prophet"—yet no one devoted themselves entirely to warning and fighting for its sake except Muhammad, may Allah bless him and grant him peace.