Tafsir of Al-Kahf 18:35

"And he entered his garden while he was..."

He took his Muslim brother by the hand, walking him through the two gardens, showing him what was within them, delighting him with them, and boasting to him of the wealth he possessed over him.

If you ask: Why did he use the singular "garden" (jannatihi) after previously mentioning two? I say: The meaning is that he entered what he considered his only garden, for he had no other. It implies he has no share in the Paradise promised to the believers; what he possessed in this world was his only garden. He did not intend to refer to the two gardens, nor even one of them.

"While he was unjust to his soul" He was arrogant regarding what he had been given, boasting of it, ungrateful for his Lord’s favor, and thereby exposing himself to the wrath of God—which is the most heinous form of injustice.

His statement regarding the uncertainty of his garden’s permanence ("I do not think the Hour will come") stems from his long-term hopes, the dominance of his greed, his persistent heedlessness, his being deceived by the respite granted to him, and his abandonment of reflecting upon the fates of those like him. Most wealthy Muslims, even if they do not utter such words with their tongues, their states of being speak it and proclaim it.

"And if I am returned to my Lord" He swears that if he were to be returned to his Lord—by way of hypothesis and supposition, as his companion claims—he would surely find in the Hereafter something better than his garden in this world. This is out of greed, wishful thinking against God, and a claim of his own honor and status before Him. He believes that God only granted him the two gardens because he deserved and was worthy of them, and that this merit follows him wherever he goes—similar to His saying: "Indeed, I will have the best with Him" (Fussilat: 50), and "I will surely be given wealth and children" (Maryam: 77).

It has been recited as "better than them both" (khayran minhuma), referring back to the two gardens.

"A place of return" Meaning a destination and an outcome. It is in the accusative case as a tamyiz (specification), meaning: the destination of that (the Hereafter) is better than the destination of this (the world), because this is fleeting and that is everlasting.

"His companion said to him while he was conversing with him, 'Have you disbelieved in He who created you from dust, then from a drop of fluid, then fashioned you a man?'"