Surah Saba
Chapter 34 · Verse 53 · Revealed in Makkah
“And they had already disbelieved in it before and would assault the unseen from a place far away.”
Translation: Saheeh International
Listen to recitation
Mishary Rashid Alafasy
Reflection — Ibn Kathir
وَأُخِذُواْ مِن مَّكَانٍ قَرِيبٍ
(and they will be seized from a near place.) means, they will not even be given the slightest chance of escape, but they will be seized from the first instant. Al-Hasan Al-Basri said: "When they come forth from their graves."
وَقَالُواْ ءَامَنَّا بِهِ
Reflection — Maarif ul Quran
The word: قَذف (qadhf) in verse 53: وَقَدْ كَفَرُوا بِهِ مِن قَبْلُ وَيَقْذِفُونَ بِالْغَيْبِ مِن مَّكَانٍ بَعِيدٍ (while they had rejected it before, and used to make conjectures from a place (so) far off) means to hit something by throwing. In the Arab idiom, anyone talking out of his hat having no proof for it is referred to by the expressions: رجم بالغیب (rajm bil-ghayb) and: قذف بالغیب (qadhfbil-ghayb), that is, this person shoots arrows in the dark which has no aim or target. At this place, the expression: مِن مَّكَانٍ بَعِيدٍ (from a place far away) means 'what they say is far from their hearts, that is, they do not believe in it by heart.'
What does this verse bring up for you today?