The Pen (Al-Qalam): (19) Then there came upon it a visitor (ṭā’if) from your Lord...

And know that aṣ-ṣarīm is on the pattern of fa'īl, so it may mean the passive participle (maf'ūl) or the active participle (fā'il). Here there are several possibilities:

1. Possibility 1: Since it was burned, it resembled the maṣrūmah (that from which the fruit has been cut/harvested) in the destruction of its fruit, even if there is a difference in other aspects. When trees are burned, they do not resemble trees whose fruit has been picked. Although this difference exists from this perspective, the similarity in the destruction of the fruit is achieved.
2. Possibility 2: Al-Hasan said: Meaning goodness was cut off (ṣurima) from it, so there is nothing in it. Based on these two views, aṣ-ṣarīm means al-maṣrūm (that which is cut/harvested).
3. Possibility 3: Aṣ-ṣarīm refers to a large piece of sand dune (raml) that is separated (tanṣarim) from the rest of the sand dunes, and its plural is aṣ-ṣarā’im. According to this, the garden, being burned with no fruit and no goodness in it, was likened to a sand dune separated from other dunes, which yields nothing beneficial.
4. Possibility 4: Morning (aṣ-ṣubḥ) is called ṣarīm because it separates (inṣarama) from the night. The meaning is that this garden dried up, its greenness vanished, and nothing remained of it, derived from the saying: "The vessel's egg (bayḍ) when it is emptied."
5. Possibility 5: Since it was burned, it became black like the dark night. Night is called ṣarīm, and the day is also called ṣarīm because each one separates (yanṣarim) from the other. According to this, aṣ-ṣarīm means aṣ-ṣārim (that which separates). Some people said that the night is called ṣarīm because its darkness cuts off (yaqṭa'u) the ability to act. According to this, it is on the pattern of fa'īl meaning the active participle (fā'il). Others said that the night is called ṣarīm because it cuts off (taṣrimu) the sight of the eye.

Then the Almighty said: