Surah Saba: Verse 3 - وقال الذين كفروا لا تأتينا... - English

Commentary

عَالِمِ الْغَيْبِ (the knower of the unseen). This is an attribute of the Rabb (Lord) in whose name an oath has been taken in verse 3. At this place, out of the many attributes of Allah Ta’ ala, the attribute of all-encompassing knowledge and the knowledge of the unseen has, perhaps, been mentioned particularly because the text is dealing with the matter of the deniers of the day of Resurrection. The major reason why the disbelievers rejected the inevitability of Qiyamah, the day of doom, was their inability to comprehend how the whole thing would work out. When all human beings die, and become dust, and the particles of this dust get scattered all over the world, they wondered, how would it be possible to collect all these particles, separate the particles belonging to each human being from the particles of all others, and then go on to put the relevant particles back into the frame of everyone's existence? And they took it as impossible because they had very conveniently taken the knowledge and power of Allah Ta’ ala on the analogy of their own knowledge and power! Allah Ta’ ala has told them that His knowledge encompasses the entire universe in a manner that He knows everything in the heavens and the earth to the extent that He also knows where and in what state it is. Not a single particle of what has been created remains outside His knowledge - and this comprehensive and all-encompassing knowledge is hallmark of Allah Ta’ ala. No created entity, whether an angel or prophet, can ever have such an all-encompassing knowledge that no particle of this universe remains outside it. Then, for a Being that has such an all-encompassing knowledge, why would it be difficult to reclaim the scattered particles of a human being from all over the universe, each separate from the other, and reconstitute their bodies from these once again?

The Hour will come so that each Person will be rewarded or punished in accordance with His Deeds

This is one of three Ayat -- there is no fourth -- where Allah commands His Messenger to swear by His Almighty Lord that the resurrection will surely come, because the stubborn followers of disbelief denied that it would happen. One of these Ayat is in Surah Yunus, where Allah says:

(And they ask you to inform them (saying): "Is it true" Say: "Yes! By my Lord! It is the very truth! and you cannot escape it!") (10:53). The second of these Ayat is this one:

(Those who disbelieve say: "The Hour will not come to us." Say: "Yes, by my Lord, it will come to you..."). And the third of them appears in Surat At-Taghabun, where Allah says:

(The disbelievers pretend that they will never be resurrected (for reckoning). Say: "Yes! By my Lord, you will certainly be resurrected, then you will be informed of what you did; and that is easy for Allah") (64:7). And Allah says here:

(Say: "Yes, by my Lord, it will come to you...") Then Allah is described in a manner that affirms that:

(the All-Knower of the Unseen, not even the weight of a speck of dust or less than that or greater escapes His knowledge in the heavens or in the earth but it is in a Clear Book.) Mujahid and Qatadah said, "Nothing is hidden or concealed from Him." In other words, everything is encompassed by His knowledge, and nothing is hidden from Him. Even though bones may be scattered and disintegrate, He knows where they have gone and where they have dispersed, then He will bring them back just as He created them in the first place, because He has knowledge of all things. Then Allah tells us of His wisdom in re-creating bodies and bringing about the Hour, as He says:

(That He may recompense those who believe and do righteous good deeds. Those, theirs is forgiveness and generous provision. But those who strive against Our Ayat to frustrate them) meaning, those who try to turn others away from the path of Allah and who disbelieve His Messengers,

(those, for them will be a severe painful torment.) This means, He will bestow His favor upon the blessed, who are the believers, and will punish the doomed, who are the disbelievers. This is like the Ayah:

(Not equal are the dwellers of the Fire and the dwellers of the Paradise. It is the dwellers of Paradise that will be successful.) (59:20)

(Shall We treat those who believe and do righteous good deeds like those who cause mischief on the earth Or shall We treat those who have Taqwa as the evildoers) (38:28)

(And those who have been given knowledge see that what is revealed to you from your Lord is the truth,) This is another kind of wisdom, following on from the one before, which is that when those who believed in what was revealed to the Messengers see the onset of the Hour and how the righteous and the wicked will be rewarded and punished respectively, which they knew of beforehand in this world from the Books of Allah and which they are now seeing with their own eyes, they will say:

(Indeed, the Messengers of our Lord did come with the truth) (7:43). And it will be said:

(This is what the Most Gracious had promised, and the Messengers spoke truth!) 36:52

(Indeed you have stayed according to the decree of Allah, until the Day of Resurrection; so this is the Day of Resurrection) (30:56),

(And those who have been given knowledge see that what is revealed to you from your Lord is the truth, and that it guides to the path of the Exalted in might, Owner of all praise.) The Exalted in might is the One Who is All-Powerful, Whom none can overwhelm or resist, but He subjugates and controls all things. The Owner of All praise is the One Who, in all His words, deeds, laws and decrees, is deserving of praise, may He be glorified and exalted.