Al-Qalam (The Pen)

17. Indeed, We have tried them as We tried the people of the garden when they swore to pluck the fruits of the garden in the morning [without the poor being aware of it],

18. Without leaving anything aside.

19. Then, a [nightly] torment was afflicted on all of their garden while they were asleep.

20. So, the garden became black by the morning like a pitch dark night.

In vein with the discussion raised in the preceding blessed Verses concerning the vain affluent who owing to their affluence and children turn away from everything, the blessed Verses in question serve as an allusion to some affluent people who had a verdant garden, but they trod the path of perdition due to their obduracy. The story was seemingly well-known at the time, hence the allusion to the story.

The blessed Verse 17 is saying that we tried them as we did the owners of the garden. Qur’an exegetes are not unanimous regarding the location of the garden, whether it was in the Yemen close to the populous city of San‘a, or in Ethiopia, amongst the Children of Israel, or in Syria or in Ta’if, though the majority of the exegetes maintain that it was in the Yemen.

According to the story, the garden belonged to a believing old man who made use of its revenues to meet his needs and gave away the rest in charity. Nonetheless, after his demise, his children said that they were further entitled to the revenues since they had numerous children failing to follow their father’s practice of expending the surplus on charitable means.

Thus, they intended to deprive the needy of the produce and their dire fate is reflected in these blessed Verses, saying that we tried them when they swore to pick the fruits early in the morning unbeknownst to the needy.

The blessed Verse 18 is saying that they did not leave anything for the needy. Such decision reflects that they did not act according owing to their need, but they thereby reflected their miserliness and weak belief, since inasmuch as one happens to be in need, he may allocate a portion of the produce of a lucrative orchard to the needy.

The blessed Verse 19 proceeds to say that when they were asleep at night, they were afflicted by an encompassing Divine torment, such that a deadly lightning and a burning fire consumed the verdant orchard and darkened it like pitch black nights leaving behind but some ashes.

The Arabic word ta’if, cognate with tawaf (“circumambulation”) denotes one who circumambulate something and at times connotes some affliction inflicted on someone at night. The Arabic word sarim denotes “separating” but herein connotes “pitch black night; fruitless tree; black ashes.”