ﱞ ﱟ ﱠ ﱡ ﱢ ﱣ ﱤ ﱥ ﱦ ﱧ ﱨ ﱩ ﱪ ﱫ ﱬ ﱭ ﱮ ﱯ ﱰ ﱱ ﱲ ﱳ ﱴ ﱵ ﱶ ﱷ ﱸ ﱹ ﱺ ﱻ ﱼ ﱽ ﱾ ﱿ ﲀ ﲁ
Would one of you like to have a garden of palm trees and grapevines underneath which rivers flow in which he has from every fruit? But he is afflicted with old age and has weak offspring, and it is hit by a whirlwind containing fire and is burned. Thus does Allah make clear to you [His] verses that you might give thought.
Tafsir
Verse range: 2:266
"Does one of you wish..."
The hamza in "Does one of you wish" is for the purpose of denial (inkār). It is also recited as lahu jannāt (he has gardens) and dhurriyyah ḍi‘āf (weak offspring).
An i‘ṣār (whirlwind) is the wind that rotates on the earth and then rises toward the sky like a pillar. This is a parable for one who performs good deeds but does not seek the Face of Allah through them. When the Day of Resurrection arrives, he finds them nullified. He then experiences a regret like that of a man who possessed one of the most beautiful and fruit-abundant gardens, reached old age, and had weak children—the garden being their livelihood and source of sustenance—only for it to be destroyed by a scorching whirlwind.
It is narrated that ‘Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) asked the Companions about this verse. They replied, "Allah knows best." He became angry and said, "Say 'we know' or 'we do not know'." Ibn ‘Abbās (may Allah be pleased with him) said, "O Commander of the Faithful, I have something in my mind regarding it." He said, "Speak, O son of my brother, and do not belittle yourself." He said, "It is a parable struck for a deed." He asked, "For what deed?" He replied, "For a wealthy man who performs good deeds, then Allah sends the Shayṭān to him, so he commits sins until he drowns all his deeds."
Al-Ḥasan (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "This is a parable, by Allah, that few people understand: an old man whose body has weakened and whose children are many, in the greatest need of his garden. And by Allah, one of you is in the greatest need of his deeds when the world is cut off from him."
If you ask: How can He say, "A garden of date palms and grapevines," and then say, "In it he has all kinds of fruits?"
I reply: Since date palms and grapevines are the most noble of trees and the most beneficial, He singled them out for mention and defined the garden by them, even if it contained other trees, giving them precedence over others. Then, He followed this by mentioning "all kinds of fruits." It is also possible that by "fruits," He means the benefits he used to derive from it, as in His saying: "And he had fruit" (Al-Kahf: 34), after saying: "Two gardens of grapevines and We bordered them with date palms" (Al-Kahf: 32).
If you ask: Upon what is the phrase "and old age has struck him" conjoined?
I reply: The wāw is for the state (ḥāl), not for conjunction. Its meaning is: "Should he have a garden while old age has struck him?" It is said that one says, "I wish that such-and-such were," and "I wish if such-and-such were." Thus, the conjunction is carried over to the meaning, as if it were said: "Does one of you wish that he had a garden and old age had struck him?"
"O you who have believed, spend from the good things which you have earned and from that which We have produced for you from the earth. And do not aim toward the defective thereof, spending from that which you would not take yourselves except with closed eyes. And know that Allah is Free of need and Praiseworthy." (267)
