“And he entered his garden, wronging himself. He said, ‘I do not think that this will ever perish; nor do I think that the Hour will ever come. And if I am returned to my Lord, I shall surely find a better place of return than this.’” (35–36)

“Each of the two gardens yielded”—that is, each one of the two gardens gave—“its fruit” in full, “and did not diminish any of it. And We caused”—the majority recited this with a doubled jim, while Ya‘qub recited it with an undoubled jim—“a river to gush forth between them,” meaning: We split open the ground and brought forth a river in their midst.

“And he had fruit,” that is, the owner of the garden had fruit. ‘Asim, Abu Ja‘far, and Ya‘qub recited thamar, with both the tha’ and mim carrying fatḥah; the same applies to bi-thamarihi. Abu ‘Amr recited it with the tha’ carrying dammah and the mim unvowelled, while the others recited both letters with dammah.

Those who recited it with fatḥah understood it as the plural of thamarah: the edible fruits produced by trees. Those who recited it with dammah understood it as abundant, productive wealth of every kind, the plural of thimār. Mujahid said: “Gold and silver.” It was also said: all kinds of fruits.

Al-Azhari said: “Thamarah is pluralized as thamar; thamar is pluralized as thimār; then thimār is pluralized as thumur.” (1)

“So he said,” meaning the owner of the garden, “to his companion,” the believer, “while conversing with him: ‘I have more wealth than you and am mightier in men,’” that is, in clan and kinsmen. Qatadah said: servants and attendants. Muqatil said: children, as confirmed by the saying of the Most High: “Though you see me as having less wealth and children than you.” (al-Kahf 39)

“And he entered his garden”: that is, the disbeliever took his Muslim brother by the hand, walked with him through it, and showed him its fruits. “While wronging himself” through his disbelief, he said: “I do not think that this will perish,” that is, be destroyed, “ever.” The scholars of meanings said: Its beauty pleased him and its splendor deceived him, so he imagined that it would never pass away and denied the Resurrection. Thus he said: “Nor do I think that the Hour will ever come,” that is, will occur. “And if I am returned to my Lord, I shall surely find a better place of return than this.” The scholars of the Hijaz and Syria recited it in the dual form, meaning: better than the two gardens; this is likewise how it appears in their written copies of the Quran. The others recited, “than this,” meaning: than the garden he had entered. “A place of return” means a destination to which one returns.