The Story of the Two Men—one a believer, the other a disbeliever
Allah, Exalted is He, says in Sūrat al-Kahf, after the narrative of the Companions of the Cave:
“Present to them the parable of two men: to one of them We granted two gardens of grapevines, and We surrounded them with date-palms and placed crops in between. (32) Each of the two gardens yielded its produce without stint, and We caused a river to flow through them. (33) He possessed abundant fruit, so he said to his companion while conversing with him, ‘I am wealthier than you and stronger in manpower.’ (34) He entered his garden while wronging himself and said, ‘I do not think this will ever perish, (35) nor do I think the Hour will ever come; yet even if I am returned to my Lord, I will surely find something better than this as a place of return.’ … ‘There, authority belongs to Allah, the True; He is best in reward and best in outcome.’” (32–44)
Some have said that this is merely a parable and need not have actually occurred, but the majority hold that it did indeed take place.
His words, “Present to them the parable,” are directed at the unbelievers of Quraysh, rebuking them for shunning the weak and the poor, despising them, and boasting over them—just as He also says: “Present to them the parable of the people of the town when the messengers came to it” (Yā Sīn 13), whose story we treated earlier, before the account of Moses, upon him be peace.
The commonly accepted report is that the two were companions, one believing, the other unbelieving. It is said that each of them possessed wealth: the believer spent his in obedience to Allah, seeking His Face, whereas the disbeliever invested his money in two orchards—the very gardens mentioned in the verse with the qualities described therein. They contained grapevines ringed by date-palms with cultivated fields between them. Rivers meandered here and there for irrigation and pleasure. The fruits were plentiful, the waterways flowed unhindered, and both crops and produce flourished luxuriantly.
Puffed up with pride, the owner boasted to his poor, believing companion: “I am richer than you and mightier in manpower,” that is, my estates are more extensive—implying that he was superior to him. In effect he was saying, “What benefit has your spending brought you? It would have been better for you to do as I have done so that you might be like me.”
Thus he lorded it over his companion and “entered his garden while wronging himself,” meaning that he was following a course displeasing to Allah. He said, “I do not think this will ever perish,” awed by its vast acreage, copious water, and luxuriant trees; even if one tree died, he thought, it could be replaced by a better one, and the crops would remain abundant because of the plentiful water.
He then added, “Nor do I think the Hour will ever come,” putting his trust in the fleeting adornment of this world and denying the enduring reality of the Hereafter.
Finally he said, “And even if I am returned to my Lord, He will surely give me better than this as my final abode,” meaning: should there indeed be an afterlife and a return, I will find there something superior to this—for he had been deluded by his worldly fortune and imagined that Allah had granted it to him only out of love and special favor.