Tafsir of Saba' 34:9

"Have they not seen what is before them and what is behind them of the heaven and the earth?"

[He means]: Are they blind, that they do not look at the heaven and the earth? Wherever they are and wherever they travel, these two surround them, and they are unable to escape their boundaries or exit the dominion of Allah—Mighty and Majestic is He.

Do they not fear that Allah might cause the earth to swallow them up, or cause a piece of the heaven to fall upon them, as a consequence of their denial of the signs and their disbelief in the Messenger (peace be upon him) and what he brought—just as He did with Qarun and the Companions of the Thicket?

"Indeed, in that..." That is, in looking at the heaven and the earth, reflecting upon them, and considering what they indicate of Allah’s power, there is "a sign" and a proof "for every servant who turns back [to Allah]"—meaning the one who returns to his Lord and obeys Him. For the one who turns back is never without reflection upon the signs of Allah, recognizing that He is capable of all things, including the Resurrection and the punishment of those who disbelieve in Him.

Notes on Readings:

• "If He wills, He causes the earth to swallow them or causes a piece of the heaven to fall": Read with the ya (third person) due to the preceding mention of the one who "invents a lie against Allah," and read with the nun (first person) due to the later verse, "And We certainly gave..."
• "Kisafan" (a piece): Read with both the fatha on the sin and the sukun on the sin.
• "Yakhsifa bihim": Al-Kisa'i read this with idgham (assimilation), though it is not a strong reading.

"And We certainly gave David from Us bounty. [We said], 'O mountains, repeat [Our] praises with him, and the birds,' and We made pliable for him iron, [Commanding him], 'Make full coats of mail and calculate [precisely] in the links, and work righteousness. Indeed I, of what you do, am Seeing.'

And to Solomon [We subjected] the wind—its morning [journey] was a month [long] and its afternoon [journey] was a month [long]—and We made flow for him a spring of molten copper. And among the jinn were those who worked before him by the permission of his Lord; and whoever deviated among them from Our command, We would make him taste of the punishment of the Blaze.

They made for him what he willed of elevated chambers, statues, basins like reservoirs, and stationary cooking pots. 'Work, O family of David, in gratitude.' And few of My servants are grateful."