(32–34) “Present to them the parable of two men: We gave one of them two gardens of grapevines, surrounded both with date palms, and placed crops between them. * Each garden yielded its produce without falling short in the least, and We caused a river to flow through them. And he had abundant fruit.”

Allah Most High says to His Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace: Present to the people the parable of these two men—one grateful for Allah’s blessing and the other ungrateful for it—along with the words and deeds that proceeded from each of them, and the immediate and ultimate punishment or reward that resulted. Thus, people may take heed from their circumstances and learn from what befell them.

Knowing the identities of these two men, or the time and place in which they lived, yields no benefit or useful conclusion. The lesson lies in their story alone; delving into anything beyond that is needless speculation.

One of these two men—the one ungrateful for Allah’s magnificent blessing—was given two gardens by Allah: two beautiful vineyards.

“We surrounded both with date palms.” In these two gardens were all kinds of fruit, especially the finest trees: grapevines and date palms. The grapevines stood in the middle, while the date palms encircled and surrounded them. This produced a splendid and beautiful sight while exposing the trees and palms to the sunlight and winds, through which their fruits developed fully, ripened, and attained their finest quality. In addition, He placed crops between those trees.

The only questions left to ask about the two gardens were: How abundant was their produce, and did they have enough water? Allah Most High therefore informs us that each garden “yielded its produce”—its fruit and crops—in twofold, multiplied abundance, and that it “did not fall short in the least”; that is, it did not diminish its produce by even the smallest amount. Moreover, rivers coursed freely along their sides, plentiful and abundant.