Al-Qur'an Surah Saba Verse 3

Mufti Taqi Usmani

Said those who disbelieve, “The Hour (i.e. the Day of Judgment) will not come to us.” Say, “Why not? By my Lord, the knower of the Unseen, it will come to you.” Nothing in the heavens and in the earth, even to the measure of a particle, can escape Him, nor is there anything smaller than that or bigger, but it is recorded in a manifest book.

Dr. Mustafa Khattab, the Clear Quran

The disbelievers say, “The Hour will never come to us.” Say, ˹O Prophet,˺ “Yes—by my Lord, the Knower of the unseen—it will certainly come to you!” Not ˹even˺ an atom’s weight is hidden from Him in the heavens or the earth; nor anything smaller or larger than that, but is ˹written˺ in a perfect Record.[[ See footnote for {33:6}.]]

Ruwwad Translation Center

Those who disbelieve say, “The Hour will not come to us.” Say, “Yes, by my Lord, it will surely come to you.” [He is] the Knower of the unseen; not even an atom’s weight is hidden from Him in the heavens or on earth, nor is there anything smaller or bigger than that, except that it is in a clear Record,

A. J. Arberry

The unbelievers say, 'The Hour will never come to us.' Say: 'Yes indeed, by my Lord, it shall come to you, by Him who knows the Unseen; not so much as the weight of an ant in heaven and earth escapes from Him, neither is aught smaller than that, or greater, but it is in a Manifest Book;

Abdul Haleem

Still, the disbelievers say, ‘The Last Hour will never come upon us.’ Say, ‘Yes, by my Lord, [it will], by Him who knows the unseen! Not even the weight of a speck of dust in the heavens or earth escapes His knowledge, nor anything smaller or greater. It is all recorded in a clear Record

Abdul Majid Daryabadi

Those who disbelieve say: the Hour will not come Unto us. Say thou: yea, by my Lord the Knower of the unseen, it will surely come Unto you. Not the weight of an atom escapeth Him in the heavens or in the earth; nor is there anything less than it nor greater but it is inscribed in a Luminous Book

Abdullah Yusuf Ali

The Unbelievers say, "Never to us will come the Hour"; Say, "Nay! but most surely, by my Lord, it will come upon you;- by Him Who knows the unseen,- from Whom is not hidden the least little atom in the heavens or on earth; Nor is there anything less than that, or greater, but is in the Record Perspicuous;

Abul Ala Maududi

The unbelievers say: “How come the Hour is not coming upon us!” Say to them: “Yes indeed, by my Lord, by Him Who fully knows the realm beyond the ken of perception, that the Hour shall inevitably come upon you. Nothing escapes Him, not even the smallest particle in the heavens or the earth; nor is anything smaller or bigger than that but is in a Manifest Book.”

Ahmed Ali

The unbelievers say: "There is no coming of the Hour for us." Say: "Why not? By my Lord, the knower of the unknown, it will certainly come for you. Not even an atom's weight in the heavens and the earth, or something smaller or greater than it, is hidden from Him, and which is not recorded in the all-too-manifest Book,

Ahmed Raza Khan

And the disbelievers said, “The Last Day will never come upon us”; proclaim, “Surely yes, why not? By oath of my Lord, it will surely come upon you – the All Knowing of the hidden; nothing is hidden from Him – equal to an atom or less than it or greater – in the heavens or in the earth, but it is in a clear Book.”

Ali Quli Qarai

The faithless say, ‘The Hour will not overtake us.’ Say, ‘Yes, indeed it will surely overtake you, by my Lord,’ the Knower of the Unseen; not [even] an atom’s weight escapes Him in the heavens or in the earth, nor [is there] anything smaller than that nor bigger, but it is in a manifest Book,

Ali Ünal

The unbelievers say: "The Last Hour will not come upon us." Say: "No indeed! By my Lord – and He is the Knower of the unseen – it most certainly will come upon you." Not an atom’s weight of whatever there is in the heavens or in the earth escapes Him, nor is there anything smaller than that, or greater, but it is (recorded) in a Manifest Book.

Amatul Rahman Omar

And those who disbelieve say, `The Hour will never come upon us.´ Say, `Why not, by my Lord, Who knows the unseen, it is bound to come upon you. Nothing escapes Him (unobserved), not even so much as an atom´s weight in the heavens or in the earth, nor is anything there smaller or greater than that (but is recorded) in a book revealing (the truth, and is governed by a plain law).

English Literal

And those who disbelieved said: "The Hour/Resurrection does not come to us," Say: "Yes/ certainly, and (by) my Lord it comes to you (E), knower (of) the unseen/absent , a weight (of) a smallest particle of anything in the universe does not be far, hidden and distant from Him in the skies/space and the earth/Planet Earth and nor smaller/littler than that, and nor greater except in a clear/evident Book ."

Faridul Haque

And the disbelievers said, “The Last Day will never come upon us”; proclaim, “Surely yes, why not? By oath of my Lord, it will surely come upon you - the All Knowing of the hidden; nothing is hidden from Him - equal to an atom or less than it or greater - in the heavens or in the earth, but it is in a clear Book.”

Hamid S. Aziz

He knows that which goes down into the earth and that which comes out of it, and that which comes down from the heaven and that which goes up to it; and He is the Merciful, the Forgiving.

Hilali & Khan

Those who disbelieve say: "The Hour will not come to us." Say: "Yes, by my Lord, it will come to you." (Allah, He is) the AllKnower of the unseen, not even the weight of an atom (or a small ant) or less than that or greater, escapes from His Knowledge in the heavens or in the earth, but it is in a Clear Book (AlLauh AlMahfuz).

Maulana Mohammad Ali

He knows that which goes down into the earth and that which comes out of it, and that which comes down from heaven and that which goes up to it. And He is the Merciful, the Forgiving.

Mohammad Habib Shakir

And those who disbelieve say: The hour shall not come upon us. Say: Yea! by my Lord, the Knower of the unseen, it shall certainly come upon you; not the weight of an atom becomes absent from Him, in the heavens or in the earth, and neither less than that nor greater, but (all) is in a clear book

Mohammed Marmaduke William Pickthall

Those who disbelieve say: The Hour will never come unto us. Say: Nay, by my Lord, but it is coming unto you surely. (He is) the Knower of the Unseen. Not an atom's weight, or less than that or greater, escapeth Him in the heavens or in the earth, but it is in a clear Record,

Muhammad Sarwar

The disbelievers have said, "There will be no Hour of Doom." Say, "By my Lord, it certainly will come. My Lord knows the unseen. Not even an atom's weight in the heavens or the earth remains hidden from Him. Nothing exists greater or smaller than this without its record in the illustrious Book.

Qaribullah & Darwish

The unbelievers say: 'The Hour will never come to us' Say: 'By my Lord, yes, it is surely coming to you! By Him who knows the Unseen, not even the weight of an atom in heavens and earth escapes Him; neither is there anything smaller than that, nor greater except that it is in a Clear Book,

Safi-ur-Rahman al-Mubarakpuri

Those who disbelieve say: "The Hour will not come to us." Say: "Yes, by my Lord, the All-Knower of the Unseen, it will come to you; 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."

Wahiduddin Khan

Those who deny the truth declare, "The Hour will never come upon us." Say, "Yes, by my Lord, it will surely come upon you! Who knows the unseen. Not the smallest particle in the heavens or the earth, or anything less or greater than that escapes Him; all is recorded in an open Book.

Talal Itani

Those who disbelieve say, “The Hour will not come upon us.” Say, “Yes indeed, by my Lord, it will come upon you. He is the Knower of the unseen.” Not an atom's weight in the heavens and the earth, or anything smaller or larger, escapes His knowledge. All are in a Clear Record.

Tafsir jalalayn

And those who disbelieve say, `The Hour, the Resurrection, will never come to us'. Say, to them; `Yes indeed, by my Lord, it shall come to you -- [by] the Knower of the Unseen (read `limi'l-ghaybi as an adjectival qualification [of wa-rabb, `by my Lord'], or read `limu'l-ghaybi, as the predicate of a [missing] subject [such as huwa, `He is']; or read `allmi'l-ghaybi). Not [even] the weight of an atom escapes, is hidden [from], Him in the heavens or in the earth, nor [is there] anything smaller than that or greater, but it is in a Manifest Book, namely, the Preserved Tablet (al-lawh al-mahfz),

Tafseer Ibn Kathir

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;

وَيَسْتَنْبِيُونَكَ أَحَقٌّ هُوَ قُلْ إِى وَرَبِّى إِنَّهُ لَحَقٌّ وَمَأ أَنتُمْ بِمُعْجِزِينَ

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;

وَقَالَ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا لَا تَأْتِينَا السَّاعَةُ قُلْ بَلَى وَرَبِّي لَتَأْتِيَنَّكُمْ

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 Surah At-Taghabun, where Allah says;

زَعَمَ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُواْ أَن لَّن يُبْعَثُواْ قُلْ بَلَى وَرَبِّى لَتُبْعَثُنَّ ثُمَّ لَتُنَبَّوُنَّ بِمَا عَمِلْتُمْ وَذَلِكَ عَلَى اللَّهِ يَسِيرٌ

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;

..
قُلْ بَلَى وَرَبِّي لَتَأْتِيَنَّكُمْ

Say;"Yes, by my Lord, it will come to you..."

Then Allah is described in a manner that affirms that;

عَالِمِ الْغَيْبِ لَاا يَعْزُبُ عَنْهُ مِثْقَالُ ذَرَّةٍ فِي السَّمَاوَاتِ وَلَاا فِي الاْاَرْضِ وَلَاا أَصْغَرُ مِن ذَلِكَ وَلَاا أَكْبَرُ إِلاَّ فِي كِتَابٍ مُّبِينٍ




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;

لِيَجْزِيَ الَّذِينَ امَنُوا وَعَمِلُوا الصَّالِحَاتِ أُوْلَيِكَ لَهُم مَّغْفِرَةٌ وَرِزْقٌ كَرِيمٌ