Tafsir of Saba' 34:54

"And a barrier is placed between them and what they desire." Ibn Abbas said: This refers to returning to the world. Al-Hasan said: It is accepted faith. Qatadah said: Obedience to Allah the Exalted. Al-Suddi said: Repentance. Mujahid said: Family, wealth, and children.

It has also been said that the barrier is between the army and the believers by means of the earth swallowing the army, or between them and the destruction of the Ka'bah, or between them and salvation from the punishment, or between them and the comforts and pleasures of this world. This has also been narrated from Mujahid.

Hīla (a barrier is placed) is in the passive voice, and the deputy subject (nā’ib al-fā’il), as Abu Hayyan stated, is the pronoun of the verbal noun (maṣdar). That is, "the interposition (al-ḥawl) was interposed." Its essence is that the interposition occurred. If there were no such pronoun, it would not be an emphatic verbal noun, so it took the place of the subject. Upon this is based the saying: "When he withholds from you and makes excuses, it displeases you; but if he unveils your suffering, you are trained," meaning "the excuse-making (al-i‘tilāl) occurred." Al-Hufi said: The adverbial phrase (ẓarf) stood in the place of the subject, but this was countered in al-Baḥr [al-Muḥīṭ] by the fact that if it were so, it would be in the nominative case; furthermore, annexation to a pronoun does not permit indeclinability (binā’), otherwise it would be permissible to say jā’a ghulāmuka with a fatha (on the mīm), which no one says. Yes, there are places for indeclinability due to annexation to an indeclinable word, which have been established in grammar. But what does Al-Hufi say regarding the verse: "And a barrier was placed between the caravan and the dancing," for it is in the accusative case (bayna), despite being annexed to a declinable word? Ibn ‘Amir and Al-Kisa’i recited it with the ishmām (blending) of the ḍamma into the ḥā’.

"As was done with their partisans before." That is, with their likes among the past nations of disbelievers. "Before" is connected to "their partisans," in the sense that what is meant are those who were characterized by their traits previously—that is, in the early times. This is supported by the fact that what is done to them all in the Hereafter is in a single moment. Or, it is connected to the verb if the interposition is in this world. Ad-Dahhak stated that what is meant by "their partisans" are the Companions of the Elephant. The apparent meaning is that he placed the verse in the context of the Sufyani and those with him.

"Indeed, they were in a disturbing doubt." That is, one that casts a person into suspicion (rībah) and accusation, assuming it is from arāba (to cast into doubt). Or it means possessing doubt, from arāba al-rajul (the man became possessor of doubt). As for it being a metaphorical comparison of doubt to a human for whom it is valid to be a "disturber," it is a kinā’iyyah takhyīliyyah (imaginary metonymic) metaphor. Or, the attribution is figurative, where what belongs to the possessor of doubt is attributed to the doubt itself for the sake of hyperbole, as one says "a poetic poet." It is as if, from this, Ibn ‘Atiyyah said: "Disturbing doubt (al-shakk al-murīb) is the strongest form of doubt." The plural pronoun is for saturation. It is said: It refers to those about whom it was spoken. And Allah the Exalted knows best.

From the perspective of symbolic interpretation (ishārah) in some verses of the surah:

"And We gave David from Us bounty: 'O mountains, repeat [Our praises] with him, and the birds...'" By the mountains, allusion is made to the world of the manifest (mulk), and by the birds, to the world of the unseen (malakūt). They have mentioned that when remembrance (dhikr) becomes established, it spreads into all parts of the body, such that the rememberer hears every part of himself remembering. When his state ascends, he hears everything in the world of the manifest likewise. When he ascends further, he hears everything in existence likewise: "And there is not a thing except that it exalts [Allah] by His praise."

"And We made iron pliable for him." (It refers to) the heart.

"That 'Do you make coats of mail...'" These are the profound wisdoms that manifest from the heart upon the tongue.

"And measure [precisely] the links [of the chain]," meaning in the discourse of wisdom: speak with wisdom according to what the intellect of your addressee can bear. It has been reported: "Speak to people according to what they know. Do you want Allah the Exalted and His Messenger to be denied?"

From here, it is difficult to answer those among the Sufis who speak with that which most scholars who hear it deny, and thereby many people have gone astray.

"And to Solomon [We subjected] the wind." The wind of divine care.

"Its morning [journey] was a month and its afternoon [journey] was a month." He would act through spiritual aspiration (himmah) and the casting of lights into the hearts of his followers from a distance of a month’s journey.

"And among the jinn were those who worked before him by the permission of his Lord." An allusion to the strength of his inward state, as even those inclined toward opposition and evil deeds became subservient to him.

"And few of My servants are grateful." This is the one who is grateful through states—meaning, by adopting the attributes of Allah the Exalted.

"And when We decreed death for him, nothing indicated to them his death except a creature of the earth eating his staff." In this is an indication that the weak may sometimes benefit the strong with knowledge.

"And We placed between them and the cities which We had blessed," these are the stations of the people of the inward (bāṭin) among the knowers of Allah, "cities manifest," and these are the stations of the people of the outward (ẓāhir) among the ascetics. "'Travel between them nights,' in the nights of humanity, 'and days,' in the days of spirituality, 'in safety,' in the protection of the Shari'ah."

Some of the new Kashfiyyah (visionary) sect said: The blessed cities are the Imams—may Allah be pleased with them—and the manifest cities are those who call to them and the ambassadors between them and their followers.

"And they wronged themselves," by their inclination toward the world and abandoning the journey due to their poor aptitude.

"Until when fear is removed from their hearts, they say, 'What has your Lord said?'" There is an allusion here that awe prevents understanding.

"And We have not sent you," meaning: We have not brought you out from non-existence into existence, "except as a bringer of good tidings and a warner to all people," the first and the last. This is his state—upon him be peace and blessings—in the world of spirits and in the world of bodies.

"But most people do not know," for they have no light by which to be guided.

"And when Our verses are recited to them as clear evidences, they say, 'This is not but a man who wishes to avert you from that which your fathers were worshipping.'" These are the highwaymen against the servants of Allah the Exalted. Similar to them are those who deny the saints (awliyā’) of Allah, who turn people away from believing in them and following them.

"Say, 'If I should err, I would only err against myself,'" for the soul is indeed a persistent enjoiner of evil. "'And if I am guided, it is by what my Lord reveals to me,'" from the Quran. There is an allusion that it is a light with which no darkness remains, or that the levels of being guided by it vary according to the variance of understanding, which arises from the variance of the purity and cleanliness of the inner self. It has been reported that the Quran has an outward and an inward, and a person can hardly reach its inward except by purifying his inner self, as is symbolized by His saying—Exalted is He—"None touch it except the purified." We ask Allah the Exalted to grant us success in understanding its outward and its inward to whatever depths He wills, for He—Glorified and Exalted is He—is the Capable One who, when He wills a thing, says to it, "Be," and it is.