Tafsir of Saba' 34:31

Surah Saba' (34): Verse 31

{And those who disbelieve say, "We will never believe in this Qur'an nor in that which is before it."}

When Allah mentioned the three fundamental principles—Tawhid (Oneness of God), Risalah (Prophethood), and the Resurrection—and they disbelieved in all of them, He then stated their general disbelief by saying: {We will never believe in this Qur'an}. This is because the Qur'an encompasses all these matters.

And His statement: {nor in that which is before it}—the well-known interpretation is that this refers to the Torah and the Gospel. Under this interpretation, those who disbelieve are the polytheists who deny prophethood and the Resurrection.

Another possibility is that the meaning is: "We will not believe that this Qur'an is from God, nor will we believe what is within it of reports, issues, signs, and proofs." Under this interpretation, "those who disbelieve" refers to everyone in general, because the People of the Book did not believe that the Qur'an is from God, nor did they believe what it contained regarding the message and the details of the Resurrection.

If one asks: "Are they not believers in the Oneness of God and the Resurrection?" We reply: If someone does not affirm one part of what is in a Book, it is said that he did not believe in anything from it, even if he believed in some other part, because his belief pertains to something else, not what is specifically in that Book.

The example is: If someone denies what a man says, and that man then informs him that fire is hot, the denier will not contradict him on this point, but it cannot be said that he believed him, because he only affirmed what he already knew from before. Therefore, the meaning of {that which is before it} is what the Qur'an itself contains, in the sense that it is mentioned within it.

{And if you could see when the wrongdoers are made to stand before their Lord, some of them casting blame upon others. Those who were deemed weak will say to those who were arrogant, "If it were not for you, we would have been believers!"}

Since their despair of believing in this worldly abode was established by their statement, {We will never believe}, this verse confirms the negation and informs the Prophet (peace be upon him) that He will see them in the most abject state, made to stand for questioning. Some of them will turn to others to speak, as happens when a group makes a mistake in a matter, where some say, "This was because of you," and the other replies similarly.

The response to the conditional particle law (if) is omitted; it is as if He said: "If you could see when the wrongdoers are made to stand, you would see a wondrous sight." He began with the followers because the misleader is more deserving of reprimand.

He said: {Those who were deemed weak will say to those who were arrogant, "If it were not for you, we would have been believers!"} This indicates that their disbelief was due to an impediment, not a lack of incentive, because they cannot claim, "No messenger came to us," nor can they claim, "The messenger fell short." This points to the Messenger having fulfilled his duty, for if the Messenger had neglected anything, they would not have believed. If it were not for the arrogant ones, they would have believed.

{Those who were arrogant will say to those who were deemed weak, "Did we avert you from guidance after it had come to you? Rather, you yourselves were criminals!"}