Saba · Makki · ayah 17 of 54

Saba 34:17

ذَٰلِكَ جَزَيْنَـٰهُم بِمَا كَفَرُوا۟ ۖ وَهَلْ نُجَـٰزِىٓ إِلَّا ٱلْكَفُورَ

“[By] that We repaid them because they disbelieved. And do We [thus] repay except the ungrateful?”

Saheeh International

Essence

Saba's flood was the very water that had fed their gardens; exact repayment of that kind is kept for whoever keeps covering His gifts.

A reflection

He waited longer than any of us would

Think about how we treat ingratitude on a small scale. A woman sends her cousin a generous wedding gift. No card comes, no message, not even a photo of it in use. For a year she is a little cooler at family gatherings. She is not cruel. She simply feels a gift deserves acknowledging, and that withholding warmth is fair.

Now look at the scale of Saba's gift. Two belts of orchard, a good land, a forgiving Lord, safe roads to the blessed lands. Not one present, but every meal of every day, for generations. And in return, not even a card: a turning away.

How long did Allah wait? The passage implies a long time. They were invited to eat and be grateful (34:15). They turned away. One report says thirteen prophets were sent to them, one after another. Only then does the sentence fall: dhālika jazaynāhum, that, We repaid them.

One commentator notes that dhālika stands at the head of the sentence for weight and awe: that repayment, and nothing smaller. It is heavy because it came last, after everything lighter had been tried.

Here the ego shrinks twice. First, we see how quickly we withdraw warmth over a missing thank-you, when we have given almost nothing. Second, we see that we are Saba too. We receive every breath and heartbeat from Him and thank Him for a fraction of them. He does not cool towards us after a year.

Does He need the thanks, then? Is the repayment a matter of hurt feelings, as ours would be? The Quran answers directly: 'Whoever is grateful is grateful for his own good; whoever is ungrateful, Allah is free of need, praiseworthy' (31:12). Gratitude changes the one who gives it. The repayment of the kafūr is not a slighted King lashing out. It is the closing of a door that was held open for a very long time.

The full entry has 5 more reflections, questions to sit with, and "Live it today" - with the words, the roots and the tafsir alongside. Free, no account, works offline.