إِنَّا

بَلَوۡنَٰهُمۡ

كَمَا

بَلَوۡنَآ

أَصۡحَٰبَ

ٱلۡجَنَّةِ

إِذۡ

أَقۡسَمُواْ

لَيَصۡرِمُنَّهَا

مُصۡبِحِينَ

١٧

Indeed, We have tested those ˹Meccans˺ as We tested the owners of the garden—when they swore they would surely harvest ˹all˺ its fruit in the early morning,

leaving no thought for Allah’s Will.¹

Then it was struck by a torment from your Lord while they slept,

so it was reduced to ashes.

Then by daybreak they called out to each other,

˹saying,˺ “Go early to your harvest, if you want to pick ˹all˺ the fruit.”

So they went off, whispering to one another,

“Do not let any poor person enter your garden today.”

And they proceeded early, totally fixated on their purpose.

But when they saw it ˹devastated˺, they cried, “We must have lost ˹our˺ way!

In fact, we have been deprived ˹of our livelihood˺.”

The most sensible of them said, “Did I not urge you to say, ‘Allah willing.’?”

They replied, “Glory be to our Lord! We have truly been wrongdoers.”

Then they turned on each other, throwing blame.

They said, “Woe to us! We have certainly been transgressors.

We trust our Lord will give us a better garden than this, ˹for˺ we are indeed turning to our Lord with hope.”¹

That is the ˹way of Our˺ punishment ˹in this world˺. But the punishment of the Hereafter is certainly far worse, if only they knew.¹