Losing everything in a single night… The parable of "the owners of the garden" in Surah al-Qalam describes exactly such an upheaval. What happens when we treat the blessings in our hands as if they were ours forever, and forget to remember God? This story is not here to accuse us, but to invite us to pause, reflect, and turn our hearts back to our Lord.
What does the Qur'an say?
Surely We tested them as We tested the owners of the garden, when they swore that they would certainly harvest it in the morning; they made no exception. (68:17)
While they were asleep, an encircling affliction from your Lord swept over it. (68:19)
The most reasonable among them said, "Did I not tell you, 'Why do you not glorify (God)?'" (68:28)
Perhaps our Lord will give us something better than it (the lost garden) in its place. Surely we now turn only to our Lord. (68:32)
Key word / root
- "they made no exception" (68:17): Following "they swore," this phrase is generally understood as their failing to add the qualifier "if God wills," i.e. they decided about the future with absolute certainty (this is a reading/interpretation).
- أوسط / awsatuhum (68:28): Root w-s-t. It means "middle, balanced"; Okuyan renders it "the most reasonable one." It points to the most level-headed person among them.
- تُسَبِّحُونَ / tusabbihun (68:28): Root s-b-h. "To glorify," that is, to magnify and remember God. Here it carries the call: "if only you had not forgotten to remember God and to honor His will/share."
What do we learn? (interpretation)
Some meanings drawn from the verses (at the level of interpretation):
- If a blessing has been given to us, we are not its absolute owners; it is a test/trial (68:17).
- Decreeing the future as "certain," while forgetting God's will and remembrance (tasbih), leaves a person heedless. The calamity comes "while they slept" (68:19) — that is, in a moment of heedlessness.
- There is always a warning voice within a community: "the most reasonable one" had reminded them of glorification from the very start (68:28). Not heeding it only deepens the regret.
- The most beautiful ending is the repentance and hope that follow the collapse: "Perhaps our Lord will give us something better; we now turn only to Him" (68:32). When loss turns the heart back to God, it can in fact become a gain.
An honest boundary
- The text of the four verses quoted above is definite: the oath, the affliction that came at night, the warner's words, and the closing expression of repentance/hope are all clearly present.
- The commonly told dimension of the parable — "the intention to harvest secretly/early so as not to give the poor their share" — rests on other verses of the surah that we have not quoted here and on the tafsir tradition; in that respect it should be treated at the level of context/interpretation, not of the quoted text. Reading the lesson on greed with this distinction in mind is more honest.
- The exact scope of "they made no exception" and the nuance of "awsat" (most reasonable/middle) have been interpreted with different emphases among exegetes; we do not impose a single reading as absolute truth.
Conclusion: The parable of the garden owners is not a threat but a warm reminder. It tells us that the blessing in our hands is temporary, that its true Owner is God, and that remembering Him (tasbih) guards us from heedlessness. Perhaps its most beautiful aspect is this: even after losing, the door does not close — a heart that can say "Perhaps our Lord will give us something better" can always return to Him. This invitation is open to us as well.
Source: Qur'anic verses (M. Okuyan meal). Presented with a text/interpretation distinction; not a fiqh fatwa.