Surah Saba' 34:54
ﱾ ﱿ ﲀ ﲁ ﲂ ﲃ ﲄ ﲅ ﲆ ﲇ ﲈ ﲉ ﲊ ﲋ ﲌ ﲍ
And prevention will be placed between them and what they desire, as was done with their kind before. Indeed, they were in disquieting denial.
Tafsir of Saba' 34:52-54
Tafsir
Al-Kashshaf
Verse range: 34:52-54
{And they said, "We have believed in it"} They mean Muhammad (peace be upon him), as his mention preceded in the verse: *"Your companion is not possessed by madness."*
{And they reached for it from a distant place} *Tanawush* (reaching) and *tanawul* (grasping) are synonymous, except that *tanawush* implies an easy grasping of something nearby. It is said: *nasha yānūshuhu* (he reached for it), and the people *tanāwashū* (reached for one another). It is also said regarding war: *tanāwashū*, meaning they reached for one another.
This is a metaphor for their seeking what cannot be—that their faith would benefit them at that time, just as faith benefits the believers in this world. Their state is likened to someone who wants to grasp something from a distance, whereas another grasps it from the length of a forearm, easily and without fatigue.
It is read as al-tanā’ush (with a hamza), where the damma-voweled waw is treated as a hamza, similar to aj’uh and ad’ur. According to Abu ‘Amr, al-tanā’ush with a hamza means "reaching from a distance," derived from the saying: na’ashta (you were slow and delayed). From this is the verse: "He wished for a delay (na’īshan) that he had obeyed me," meaning: finally.
{And they cast [accusations] into the unseen from a distant place} This is conjoined to *qad kafarū* (they had disbelieved), narrating a past state. It means: they used to speak about the unseen and bring it from a "distant place." This refers to their calling the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) a poet, a sorcerer, or a liar. This is speaking about the unseen and the hidden, for they never witnessed sorcery, poetry, or falsehood from him. They brought this "unseen" from a place far removed from his reality, for the furthest things from what he brought are poetry and sorcery, and the furthest things from his known and tested character are falsehood and lies.
It is also read as wa-yuqdhafūna bil-ghayb (passive voice), meaning: their devils bring it to them and prompt them with it.
If you wish, you may connect it to their saying, "We have believed in it," as a metaphor for their seeking to attain the faith they neglected in this world by saying "we believe" in the Hereafter. This is a far-fetched request, like someone throwing something from a distant place where there is no possibility of it reaching its target, because it is absent and remote. Al-ghayb is that which is absent.
It is also possible that the pronoun refers to the "severe punishment" in the verse: "Before a severe punishment" (Saba': 46). They used to say, "We will not be punished; if the matter is as you describe regarding the Hour, reward, and punishment, we are too honored by Allah to be punished," measuring the affairs of the Hereafter by the affairs of this world. This was their "casting into the unseen," which is indeed unseen and cast from a distant place, because the Abode of Recompense cannot be measured by the Abode of Obligation.
{What they desire} This refers to the benefit of faith on that day, salvation from the Fire, and winning Paradise. Or, it refers to being returned to this world, as narrated of them: *"So return us [to the world]; we will work righteousness"* (as-Sajdah: 12).
{With their likes} Meaning those similar to them among the disbelieving nations and those who held their same creed.
{Mureeb (in doubt)} Either from *arābahū*, meaning it cast him into doubt and suspicion; or from *arāba al-rajul*, meaning the man became a person of doubt and entered into it. Both are metaphorical, though *mureeb* in the first sense is transferred from the entities that can be suspicious to the meaning itself, and *mureeb* in the second sense is transferred from the possessor of doubt to the doubt itself, as you would say: "a poetic poem."
From the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him): "Whoever recites Surah Saba', there will remain no messenger or prophet except that he will be his companion and shake his hand on the Day of Resurrection."