set aside for the poor, whenever they harvested his date palms, everything that the sickle passed over without cutting. Whenever he cast down the fruit from the tops of the palms onto the spread below, whatever fell upon the spread also belonged to the poor. Whenever they reaped their crops, whatever the sickle passed over belonged to the poor; and when they threshed them, everything that scattered also belonged to them.

When the father died and these brothers inherited it [from their father] (1), they said, “By Allah, the wealth is scant while the dependants are many. This practice was only observed when wealth was abundant and dependants were few. But now that wealth is scarce and dependants are many, we cannot afford to do this.” So, one day, they pledged among themselves that they would set out early the next morning, before the people came out, and harvest their date palms. Yet they made no exception—that is, they did not say, “If Allah wills.”

So the men went out in the darkness of the night to their garden, intending to harvest it before the poor could come out. They found it blackened: a visitation of punishment had come upon it by night and burned it, so that by morning it became like a harvested field (2).

Thus Allah’s saying, Exalted is He: “When they swore that they would surely harvest it in the morning”—172/A—that is, they would certainly cut it down and gather its fruit in the morning, before the poor became aware.

“And they made no exception. (18) Then a visitation from your Lord came upon it while they slept, (19) and by morning it had become like a harvested field. (20) Then they called out to one another at daybreak, (21) ‘Set out early for your crop, if you are going to harvest.’ (22)”

“And they made no exception”: that is, they did not say, “If Allah wills.”

“Then a visitation came upon it”: a punishment “from your Lord,” by night—for such a visitation occurs only at night. That visitation was a fire that descended from the sky and burned it while they were asleep.

“And by morning it had become like a harvested field”: like the dark blackness of night. Al-Hasan said: Its goodness had been cut off, so nothing remained in it.

Al-Akhfash said: Like the dawn, severed from the night. The original meaning of ṣarīm is “something cut off,” just as qatīl means “one slain” and maqtūl means “one killed.” Everything cut off is ṣarīm. Thus, the night is ṣarīm (something severed) (3), and so is the dawn, because each is severed from the other.

Ibn Abbas said: It means like black ashes, in the dialect of Khuzaymah.

“Then they called out to one another at daybreak”: when morning came, they called one another.

“Set out early for your crop”: meaning the fruits, crops, and grapes, “if you are going to harvest”—that is, cut the date palms.