something better than your garden and send upon it”—that is, upon your garden—“a calamity.” Qatadah said: “A punishment.” Ibn ‘Abbas said: “Fire.” Al-Qutaybi said: “Projectiles” (1) “from the sky,” like a thunderbolt or something that destroys it. Its singular form is husbanah. “So that it becomes a barren, slippery plain,” that is, bare, smooth ground containing no vegetation. It was also said: a ground upon which feet slip. Mujahid said: “Loose sand.”

“Or its water may sink away, so that you will never be able to seek it. And its fruit was encompassed, so he began wringing his hands over what he had spent on it, while it had collapsed upon its trellises; and he said, ‘If only I had not associated anyone with my Lord!’ And he had no company to help him besides Allah, nor was he able to defend himself. There, all authority belongs to Allah, the True. He is best in reward and best in outcome.” (41–44)

“Or its water may sink away,” that is, it may recede, cease, and disappear, beyond the reach of hands and buckets. The word ghawr is a verbal noun used in the place of a noun, like the expressions zawr and adl. “So that you will never be able to seek it,” meaning: if you were to seek it, you would not find it.

“And its fruit was encompassed,” that is, punishment encompassed the fruit of his garden. Allah Most High sent fire upon it, which destroyed it, and its water sank away. Thus its disbelieving owner “began wringing his hands,” that is, clapping one hand against the other and turning his hands palm-up and palm-down in remorse and grief, “over what he had spent on it, while it had collapsed,” that is, fallen, “upon its trellises,” meaning its roofs. And he said, “If only I had not associated anyone with my Lord!”

Allah Most High then said: “And he had no company,” that is, no group, “to help him besides Allah,” protecting him from Allah’s punishment; “nor was he able to defend himself,” that is, he was unable to defend himself or take revenge. It was also said: he was unable to recover what had been lost.

“There, all authority belongs to Allah, the True,” meaning: on the Day of Resurrection. Hamzah and al-Kisa’i recited wilayah with the waw pronounced with kasrah, meaning authority; the others recited it with fathah, in the sense of allegiance and support, as in Allah’s saying: “Allah is the Protector of those who believe” (al-Baqarah, 257). Al-Qutaybi said: This means that on that Day they will take Him as their Protector and disavow what they used to worship.

It was also said that, with fathah, it means lordship, while with kasrah, it means authority.

“The True”: Abu ‘Amr and al-Kisa’i recited it in the nominative, as an adjective describing wilayah. This is supported by Ubayy’s recitation: “There, all authority belongs to Allah, the True.” The others recited it in the genitive, as an adjective describing Allah, as in His saying: “Then they are returned to Allah, their true Protector” (al-An‘am, 62).