The Story of The City of Saba

" لقد كان لسبأٍ في مسكنهم آية جنتان عن يمين و شمال كلوا من رزق ربكم و اشكروا له بلدة طيبة و رب غفور(15) فأعرضوا فأرسلنا عليهم سيل العرم و بدلناهم بجنتيهم جنتين ذواتي أكل خمط و أثل و شيء من سدر قليل(16) ذلك جزيناهم بما كفروا و هل نجازي إلا الكفور(17) و جعلنا بينهم و بين القرى التي باركنا فيها قرى ظاهرة و قدرنا فيها السير سيروا فيها ليالي و أياماً آمنين(18) فقالوا ربنا باعد بين أسفارنا و ظلموا أنفسهم فجعلناهم أحاديث و مزقناهم كل ممزق إن في ذلك لآيات لكل صبار شكور(19) و لقد صدق عليهم إبليس ظنه فاتبعوه إلا فريقاً من المؤمنين(20)" سورة سبأ
Everything you do for the sake of Allah will be given to you as a credit. So, if you dedicate your life for the sake of Allah(swt), Allah will make that whole life of yours a blessed life full of blessings and rewards. On the contrary, If you claim yourself or your life not for the service of God, that life of yours will not be a life of joy and happiness, both in this world and in the hereafter.

When Allah(swt) showers a person, is it possible that he removes these blessings from a person? Or they are there forever?


The Quran is a great book that we can learn from. It contains so many stories that we have to reflect upon. These stories did not happen a thousand, two thousands or five thousand years ago. Although they occurred so much time ago, they are observed today. Every society continues observing them. That is the beauty of the Quran. It is a book written for eternity. Allah(swt) gives us a beautiful example to reflect upon, the story of Saba( A city known as Saba). Allah says in surat Saba verse 15:


" لقد كان لسبأٍ في مسكنهم آية جنتان عن يمين و شمال كلوا من رزق ربكم و اشكروا له بلدة طيبة و رب غفور(15)= Indeed, the way Saba used to live with was a miracle. It was unbelievable in that day and age. They had two heavens, one was on the right hand side and the other on the left hand side. (Heaven here means a land covered with trees such that no sun can get to that land). People were able to travel for days without needing an umbrella or needing to cover themselves from the heat. There were so many trees around which makes the land constantly shaded. Then, Allah said" Eat from the sustenance that Allah gave to you and thank Him and be grateful to Him. A city which is blessed and a lord who is forgiving and merciful."

It is said that Allah(swt) cleaned the air for them. The air constantly clean so people did not get sick… No germs or bacteria. It is said that that city had no scorpions or snakes. So you can walk safely without being worried about some snakes or scorpions or things may be attacking you. Allah blessed the city of Saba.
Among all these blessings, what did they do?
People of Saba were not grateful.
By the way, thanking is not only by speaking and saying" Thank you, my lord". You need to act and be grateful both ways; thanking him verbally and with an action. If Allah(swt) has given you knowledge, you have to give some of this knowledge to the others. In fact, if a scholar or a person of knowledge does not pass his\her knowledge on to the others, Allah will hold him\her responsible on the day of judgment. Allah would say" I provided you with the opportunity that you can go and learn, Why did you stop this knowledge from being pass on to the others?"
( Look how great Islam is! It tries to promote education. The scholar had a duty towards other people. He had to educate them. Islam eradicated ignorance. The number of people who can read before the prophet came was six. Because they were few, their names had been recorded in history. After Islam and within twenty-three years only, so many people became literate.) So, whatever blessing Allah gives a human being, He wants the human being to act.

What happened to them, then?
It is said that Saba was in a place which was a valley between two mountains. What used to happen is that their soil was very good for cultivating and harvesting. The only problem was they could not get water, there was no river round that area. There was a lot of rain but that rain goes to waste. What did they do?

They actually were smart. They built a dam so that the water which used to come to the mountains would go and get trapped behind the dam. In addition, they built some windows or doors through the dam so that they can regulate how much water they want to flow. Finally, they made a river that can give as much water as they want. Then, they had no problem whatsoever with water. That is how they managed to build all these paradises that they were able to harvest.

Who gave them the idea to build a dam? Who enabled them to do so?
Sometimes, the human being gets an idea that he got these things himself. Allah says
" خلق الإنسان(3) علمه البيان(4)" سورة الرحمن = " Allah created the human being and taught him how to speak and communicate"
And Allah said " اقرأ باسم ربك الذي خلق(1) خلق الإنسان من علق(2) اقرأ و ربك الأكرم(3) الذي علم بالقلم(4) علم الإنسان ما لم يعلم(5)" سورة العلق =" Read in the name of your lord who created you from a sperm, lifeless, ignorant. You do not know anything. Recite in the name of your lord the honorable. The one who taught by the pen. He taught the human being things he did not even think about or know about"

Allah is the teacher, not us. We think that we come up with ideas and inventions, but it is only that Allah is showing us the way and giving us the ability to think of them. That is why, sometimes, when some scientists really indulged into science, they realized that whatever they end to and whatever they get into, is not just coincidence or chance. There is definitely a creator. One of those scientists is by the name of Pehe. Through science, he discovered that this universe could not have come through evolution. And he himself does not necessarily believe in God but he came up with a theory that this universe must have a creator. So, when people reflect upon the creation of Allah(swt) and upon what He has given to them, they realize that whatever things we are doing or looking out right here could not have come just by ourselves. There is Someone who is helping us to find all this.
So, Allah gave people of Saba the ability to build the dam, to control the water flow, etc. When they rejected Allah(swt) and they were not being grateful to Allah, the dam that was a blessing became a curse. Allah(swt) sent many rats that would bite the wood which the dam was made of. Over years and years, the dam became weaker and they never checked upon it regularly to maintain it. One time, there was a lot of rain. The dam was not strong enough anymore and flood. That is how Allah(swt) destroyed all their heavens and their crops and everything within few hours. Instead of all these beautiful trees and fruits that they used to have, everything has changed into a desert. Then, they had two other heavens of useless trees that have terrible taste. They had no benefit whatsoever. Allah said" That was their punishment for what they did. This was the result of their own deeds. We only give the punishment to those who are not grateful."

This is a beautiful example to be careful with Allah's blessings.
"و جعلنا بينهم و بين القرى التي باركنا فيها قرى ظاهرة و قدرنا فيها السير سيروا فيها ليالي و أياماً آمنين(18)"= " They could walk from one city to another village and from one village to the others. They were so close to each other. They were all integrated into one another. Furthermore, they could walk from one village to the other with safety. You never have to worry about some thieves who would come and steal you. You do not have to worry about any animal that might attack you. You do not have to worry about food, too."
Again, were they grateful?
فقالوا ربنا باعد بين أسفارنا و ظلموا أنفسهم فجعلناهم أحاديث و مزقناهم كل ممزق إن في ذلك لآيات لكل صبار شكور(19)" " =" They said" O' our lord, make the distances that we travel far and long" They were unjust to themselves."

Why did they ask for this?
Ahadeeth tells us that the rich people in those cities started getting tired because they were so much integrated with the poor. The rich can travel easily and so can the poor because during their travel, they did not need food, water or any preparation and they can travel safely. They were equal. The poor can sit next to the rich and the rich can sit next to the poor. ( I am so rich and popular and got this mansion and now I got this guy living in a tent right next to me! that does not work.)

( In some areas in our time, there are certain areas where the poor cannot afford to buy housing and they keep in this way. They raise the prices of those areas such that the poor does not get into these areas. The rich stays there and the poor goes into other areas because they are cheaper.)
So, they prayed to Allah that they do not want these close distances.. these abundant food.. and security. They prayed to make it difficult such that only the rich are able to travel.. and have horses and camels to travel those distances.

( Imagine the psychology of those people! However, until today, we have people like that in societies. They cannot see a mix or equality. Even in countries that call for equality, You see the same thing happening. )

What happened for them?

Allah destroyed their gardens by the flood. Those beautiful trees and security were all changed with deserts. Everything was gone.
Then, Allah said" Indeed, these are signs for every person who practices patience and gratitude". So, a human being has to be so patient and so grateful to Allah in order for him\her to perceive the signs that Allah has given to us in this humble five verses in surat Saba.

Then Allah said ولقد صدق عليهم إبليس ظنه فاتبعوه إلا فريقاً من المؤمنين(20)"" = Iblees( The devil) managed to fool them and made them think this is the best for them. ( Why should the poor live next to you?!! Why should you be praying to Allah and being grateful to Him?! You got everything..what do you need Allah for?!)They followed him and forgot about Allah except for very few individuals.

We have to train ourselves to be among those few individuals. In order for people to be like that, they have to work at it.. to understand.. and to reflect.. Allah(swt) is trying to give us here lots of lessons:

1- No matter how great you get.. No matter how powerful you become, Allah can destroy all this within seconds. These days, people invest in stocks. Overnight, stocks change and everybody is out. So, whatever blessing you have, make sure not to be so arrogant or powerful because Allah will be more powerful than you.

2- Allah is trying to tell us that we, human beings, should remember that the blessing He is giving us comes from Him.. We did not make it ourselves.. It is right that we work hard.. we get what we strive for.. But, Allah is the one who enabled us to work hard and provided us with the ability to do so. If we are not grateful, that same blessing we have will turn into a curse.( The same dam they used as a blessing was turned into a curse).

3- Allah is trying to tell us that we should not think of classes: rich\poor, educated\uneducated.
( That is one of the beauties of hajj. In hajj, everybody is wearing their shroud. Everybody is praying and doing Tawaf at the same time. You cannot tell who is a doctor and who is a regular, illiterate person. You cannot tell the difference.)

We shall work hard in this world such that we can achieve high status before Allah, not before other individuals. Other individuals will not help us on the day of judgment.
When the human being elevates his soul and his life before Allah and combines his faith with the understanding in Allah(swt), you can see him giving fruits and lots of blessings to other human beings. He\She becomes a blessing, a blessed garden of abundance such as inventors, worshipers and those who give so much to the society and the world and people pray they live forever. On the contrary, when the person forgets about Allah and does not connect himself with Allah, he\she becomes a curse towards human beings such as dictators, tyrants, oppressors that people wish they never existed in history.



(Note: This is a transcription of a lecture by Sayyed Usama Alattar. Here is the link if you want to listen to it:
http://www.4shared.com/audio/214ahntk/sabaa.html