Tafsir of Saba' 34:16

(But they turned away), meaning from gratitude, as the context necessitates. This includes turning away from faith, as that is the greatest form of disbelief and ingratitude. Abu Hayyan said: They turned away from what their thirteen prophets had brought them, as they had invited them to Allah the Exalted and reminded them of His blessings, yet they belied them and said, "We know of no blessing from Allah."

(So We sent upon them the flood of the 'Arim), meaning the difficult [flood]. It is derived from the adjective 'arim—where the ra is vowelled with a fatha in all three instances—which describes a person who is ill-tempered and difficult ('arim or 'arm). The meaning corresponds to the narration from Ibn Abbas, who interpreted it as "the severe [flood]." Attributing the flood to the 'Arim is a case of attributing the described to the descriptor. Those among the grammarians who reject this state the implied meaning is: "the flood of the affair of the 'Arim."

It is said: The 'Arim is heavy rain, and the attribution is literal. It is also said: It is the name of the rat that burrowed into their dam, becoming the cause for the flood to overcome them; it is the blind rat known as the khuld (mole), and the attribution of the flood to it is based on a weak association. Ibn Jubayr said: The 'Arim means "the dam" in the Abyssinian language. Al-Akhfash stated that in this sense, it is Arabic. Al-Mughirah ibn Hakim and Abu Maysarah said: The 'Arim, in the language of Yemen, is the plural of 'armat, which is anything built or raised to hold back water. This construction is called a musannah (embankment) in the language of Hijaz. The attribution is as described previously, and the association is stronger in this view. From Ibn Abbas, Qatadah, al-Dahhak, and Muqatil, it is said to be the name of the valley from which the flood came and in which the dam was built, and the attribution of the flood to it is clear. 'Uzra ibn al-Ward read it—as recounted by Ibn Khalawayh—as (al-'urm), with the ra vowelled with sukun for ease, similar to how they say al-kabd (liver).

It is narrated that when Bilqis ruled, her people fought over the water of their valley, so she left her kingdom and lived in her palace. They pressured her to return, but she refused. They said, "You must return, or we will kill you." She said to them, "You have no reason, and you do not obey me." They replied, "We will obey you," so she returned to their valley. Whenever it rained, the flood would reach them from a three-day journey away. She ordered the space between the two mountains to be blocked with a dam made of rock and bitumen (tar), and she trapped the water behind the dam, creating gates for it, one above the other. Beneath it, she built a reservoir with twelve outlets corresponding to the number of their rivers, so the water would flow to them equally, until what happened between her and Sulayman (peace be upon him) occurred.

It is said: The one who built the dam for them was Himyar, the forefather of the Yemeni tribes. It is also said it was built by Luqman the Elder, son of 'Ad, who set its stones with lead and iron. It was a farsakh by a farsakh (league by league). They remained in the most comfortable life and the most fertile land, to the extent that a woman would go out with a basket on her head, and by working with her hands while walking, the basket would fill up from the fruits falling from their orchard trees. This continued until they turned away from gratitude and belied the prophets (peace be upon them), so Allah the Exalted unleashed the mole upon their dam. It burrowed into it, breaching it, so He the Exalted sent a great flood that carried away the dam and swept away the gardens and many people. It is said that it destroyed the dam, thus compromising the distribution of water and its arrival to their gardens, so they dried up and perished. That flood, as it is said, took place during the reign of Dhu al-Adh'ar ibn Hassan, in the period between our Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) and 'Isa (peace be upon him). There is a discussion regarding this, assuming the view that the "turning away" was from what had come to them from their thirteen prophets, as you will soon learn, if Allah the Exalted wills.

(And We substituted for them, in place of their two gardens), meaning We removed their two gardens and replaced them with (two gardens of bitter fruit), meaning fruit (and tamarisks), which is bitter or salty. From Ibn Abbas, khamt is the Arak tree; its fruit is called this generally, or when it turns black and ripens. It is said to be the Ghadha tree, though I do not know if it has fruit or not. Abu 'Ubaydah said: Every bitter tree that has thorns. Ibn al-A'rabi said: It is the fruit of a tree shaped like poppy seeds that is of no benefit, and that tree is called, as it is said, "the hyena's fart." According to the first view, it is an adjective describing "fruit," and the matter is clear. According to the latter, it is an appositive ('atf bayan) according to the school of the Kufans, who permit this for indefinite nouns. It is also said to be a substitute (badal). According to the intermediary views, the speech is based on the omission of a genitive (mudaf); i.e., "the fruit of a tree of bitterness (khamt)," and that omitted noun is a substitute for "fruit" or an appositive to it. When it was omitted, the genitive complement (mudaf ilayh) took its place and was inflected with its case, as in al-Bahr. It is said it is based on the estimation of "fruit possessing bitterness," or a substitute like the type "I like the moon, its light"—and it is as you see. It is forbidden to make it a descriptive adjective without some sort of interpretation because fruit is not described by the tree itself, not because description by immutable nouns is not constant, even if some of it exists, such as "I passed by a qa' (a level ground) of 'arfaj." So reflect upon this.

Abu 'Amr read ukulin khamtin (genitive attribution), which is of the pattern of "a robe of silk (thawb khazz)." Ibn Kathir read ukulin with the kaf vowelled with sukun and with tanwin. (And [a few] tamarisks): A type of salt cedar (tarafa), as stated by Abu Hanifah the linguist in his book on plants. From Ibn Abbas, it is interpreted as tarafa. Al-Tabarsi transmitted an opinion that it is the samur (acacia) tree. It is a conjunction to "fruit." Al-Zamakhshari did not permit it to be a conjunction to khamt, reasoning that the tamarisk has no fruit. Physicians like Dawud al-Antaki and others mention that it has a fruit like a chickpea, which breaks into small seeds sticking to one another, and they define the athl (tamarisk) as the great kind of tarafa. They say regarding the tarafa that it is wild and has no fruit, while the garden variety does have fruit. However, al-Khafaji said: One should not rely on medical books for such matters, and I have reservations about it. We have verified that the tamarisk has a fruit, as does a type of tarafa, except that their fruit is not eaten. Perhaps the one who denies it intends the denial of a fruit that can be eaten. Physicians consider what the tree produces—other than leaves and the like—to be fruit, whether it is eaten or not. Similar to this [conjunctive] structure is His saying, exalted be He:

(And a little of the lote trees). Fudayl ibn Ibrahim recounted that it was read as athlan wa-shay'an (in the accusative case), as an appositive to "two gardens." The sidr is the lote tree (nabq). Al-Azhari said: There are two types of sidr: a sidr from which there is no benefit, its leaves are not suitable for washing, and it has a bitter fruit that is not eaten, which is called the dhal; and a sidr that grows near water, its fruit is the nabq, and its leaves are used for washing, resembling the jujube tree. End quote. There is a disagreement regarding the intended meaning here; it is said to be the second, described as "little" in word and meaning, or meaning only—this being when it is an epithet for the "something" that makes it clear, because its fruit is of that which is good to eat. Thus, it was made "little" in what they were replaced with, because if it were abundant, it would be a blessing, not a curse. They were given it only to remind them of the lost blessings, so that it might be a source of regret for them. It is also said that it refers to the first, essentially, because it is the most appropriate for the context, though it does not mention the significance of the description "little" for it.

It is possible to say regarding the description "little" absolutely, that the sidr has status among the Arabs; this is why Allah the Exalted stipulated its existence in Paradise. The garden variety of it has obvious benefits, and the wild variety provides shade for travelers, who find comfort in it and other benefits. Its elevated status is supported by what Abu Dawud recorded in his Sunan, and al-Diya in al-Mukhtara, from Abdullah ibn Hubshi, who said: The Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) said: "Whoever cuts down a lote tree, Allah will direct his head into the Fire." And [it is supported] by what al-Bayhaqi recorded from Abu Ja'far, who said: The Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) said to 'Ali—may Allah honor his face—during his final illness: "Go out, O 'Ali, and say on behalf of Allah—not on behalf of the Messenger: May Allah curse whoever cuts down a lote tree." There are several reports with various chains of narration in the same meaning. All of them, as I see it, are understood to apply when the cutting is done in vain, even if the tree is on one's own property.

It is said that this is specific to the sidr of Medina, and that the prohibition on cutting it was to provide comfort and shade for those who emigrate to it. It is said to be the sidr of the wilderness, for travelers and animals to take shelter under it. It is said to be the sidr of Mecca, because it is a sanctuary. It is said to apply when it is in the property of another, and the cutting is done without right. All of these [views] are as you see. Regardless, its explicit mention indicates that it has status. When the Exalted mentioned what became of those who turned away and what they were replaced with, He—glorified be He—brought forth that which implies a signal to the insignificance of what they were compensated with—despite it being something that has status among the Arabs, namely the sidr, and its small quantity. The signal to its smallness is clear, and as for the signal to its insignificance, it comes from mentioning a "something" and deviating from saying "and a little lote tree"—even though that would be more fluent and consistent with what preceded it. Thus, there is an indication of the extremity of the reversal of their state, as the speech hints that after the loss of their two gardens, they were not given anything of a genus that has status among the Arabs, except the sidr, and what they were given of this genus is insignificant and little. Naming the substitute "two gardens"—even though it is what you have heard—is for the sake of assimilation and mockery.