Al-Qalam: (17) Indeed, We tested them as...

Explanation

Know that when the Almighty said: "Because he possessed wealth and sons," (referring to the one who denied and was ungrateful), this was a denial and rebellion. In this verse, He clarifies that He only granted him wealth and sons as a trial and a test, so that he might be directed toward obedience to God and persevere in thanking God for His blessings. If he failed to do so, then God would cut off those blessings from him and inflict various calamities and afflictions upon him.

He said: {Indeed, We tested them as We tested the companions of the Garden} (17:17).

This means: We tasked these people with being grateful for blessings, just as We tasked the companions of the Garden—which had fruit—with being grateful and giving the poor their due rights.

It is narrated that a man from Thaqif, who was a Muslim, owned an estate with palm trees and crops near Sana'a. He used to set aside a generous portion of everything harvested for the poor. When he died, his sons inherited it. They then said: "Our dependents are many, and the wealth is little; it is not possible for us to give to the needy as our father used to do." So, God burned their garden.

It is also said that they were from the Children of Israel.

His statement: {when they swore} (18:1) means when they took an oath: {that they would surely harvest its fruit in the morning} (18:2), meaning at the time of morning. Muqatil said: The meaning is: "Go secretly to your garden in the early morning and harvest it, and do not inform the poor." Their father used to inform the poor, so they would gather when the harvest was being gathered. It is said: ṣarama al-‘idhaq (he cut the cluster from the palm tree), and aṣrama an-nakhlu (the palm is ready for harvest).

His statement: {and they made no exception} (18:3), meaning they did not say, "If God wills" (In shā’ Allāh). This is the view of a group of commentators. It is said: So-and-so swore an oath that contained no thunā (exception), nor thunwā, nor thuniyyah, nor mithnawiyyah, and all these terms mean the same thing. The origin of all this is from ath-thannī, which means to hold back or turn away. This is because when the swearer says, "By God, I will do such-and-such, unless God wills otherwise," he has turned away from the binding nature of that oath.

They differed regarding His statement: {and they made no exception}. The majority hold that they did not make an exception by saying "If God wills" because they were confident that they would certainly be able to accomplish it. Others said: Rather, the meaning is that they would harvest all of it and would not set aside for the poor the portion that their father used to give to the needy.

{Then there came upon it a visitor from your Lord while they were sleeping And it became like a black, barren field} (18:19).