Woodpecker said, "O Almond, tell us about the story of two men, mentioned in Surah Al-Kahf!" Almond said, "O my brothers and sisters, Allah the Most Glorious, draws a comparison of the Worldly Life and the Hereafter. Allah says in Surah Yunus [10]:24, "The example of this worldly life is but like rain which We have sent down from the sky that the plants of the earth absorb - those from which men and livestock eat - until, when the earth has taken on its adornment and is beautified and its people suppose that they have capability over it, there comes to it Our command by night or by day, and We make it as a harvest, as if it had not flourished yesterday. Thus do We explain in detail the signs for a people who give thought.
Allah the Most Glorious, draws a comparison of the worldly life in that it appears beautified in the eye of the beholder, so he becomes amazed and dazzled with its splendour, so that he becomes inclined to it and desires it and becomes misled by it - until he reaches the stage where he thinks he possesses it and has free reign over it, then all of a sudden it is snatched away from him when he needs it the most and a barrier is cast between him and it. Thus, Allah, Most High, compares this situation with the land on which rain falls causing it to sprout vegetation and its plants attain perfection and its visual beauty attracts the onlooker, deceiving him and making him think that he has power over it and has complete ownership of it. Then all of a sudden, Allah’s Command comes down upon it, and sudden disaster overtakes its vegetation, causing it to become as if previously it had amounted to nothing. He therefore becomes dejected and his hands retain nothing of it. Similar is the condition of the world and the one who puts all his reliance on it.
The Story of two men, whether it is an actual happening or a parable, which is related for the sake of being a warning, is an almost perfect example of the confrontation between the Idolators of Makkah and the Muslims. the idolators who were too arrogant to sit with the poor and weak among Muslims, showing off before them with their wealth and noble lineage, Allah then gives a parable for them of two men, a kufr, one of whom Allah gave two gardens of grapes, surrounded with palm trees and cultivated with crops throughout. All of the trees and plants were abundantly fruitful, providing readily accessible, good quality produce.
Each of the two gardens produced its fruit and nothing at all was diminishing. And rivers were flowing through them here and there. And he had Thamar, so he said to his companion, a believer, while he was conversing with him, "I am greater than you in wealth and mightier in numbers of men. I have more servants, attendants and children." He was disputing with him and boasting to him and showing off.
He then entered his garden and said, "I do not think that this will perish - ever and if there is a Hereafter and a return to Allah, then I will have a better share than this with my Lord, for if it were not that I am dear to Him, He would not have given me all this, I will surely find better than this as a return." So, he was allowing himself to be deceived because of the plants, fruits and trees that he saw, and the rivers flowing through the different parts of his gardens. He thought that it could never come to an end or cease or be destroyed. This was because of his lack of understanding and the weakness of his faith in Allah, and because he was enamored with this world and its adornments, and because he disbelieved in the Hereafter.
The believer replied to him, warning and rebuking him for his disbelief in Allah and allowing himself to be deceived, "Have you disbelieved in He who created you from dust and then from a sperm-drop and then proportioned you as a man?" This is a denunciation, pointing out the seriousness of his rejection of his Rabb Who created and formed man out of dust - that is, refering to Adam - then made his offspring from despised liquid. How can you reject your Rabb and His clear signs to you, which every one recognizes in himself, for there is no one among His creatures who does not know that he was nothing, then he came to be, and his existence is not due to himself or any other creature. He knows that his existence is due to his Creator, beside Whom there is no other god, the Creator of all things."
Then he said, "‘I do not say what you say; rather I acknowledge the Oneness and Lordship of Allah,He is Allah, the One Who is to be worshipped Alone, with no partner or associate. And why did you, when you entered your garden, not say, 'What Allah willed has occurred; there is no power except in Allah '? Although you see me less than you in wealth and children, it may be that my Rabb will give me something better than your garden and will send upon it a calamity from the sky, and it will become a smooth, dusty ground, or its water will become sunken into the earth, so you would never be able to seek it."
One of the Salaf said, “Whoever is delighted with something in his circumstances or his wealth or his children, let him say, 'What Allah willed has occurred; there is no power except in Allah!’ ” It was reported in the Sahih, from Abu Musa that the Messenger of Allah(ﷺ) said, "Shall I not tell you about a treassure from among the treasures of paradise? La hawla wa la quwwata ilia billah (There is no power or might but with Allah)." One of the treasures of paradise is to admit and recognise that the power to do any good deed and the strength to avoid the doing of any evil deed is impossible without the help of Allah. In other words the person who admit this with his tongue and has made this reality in his heart, is as if he has acquired one of the Keys to the Treasures of paradise.
What this disbeliever was afraid of, and what the believer had terrified him, actually had happened. A storm struck his garden, a garden which he had erroneously thought would last forever, distracting him from thoughts of Allah, may He be glorified. He was clasping his hands together gesture of regret and grief for the wealth he had lost and said, "Oh, I wish I had not associated with my Lord anyone." And there was for him no company, a clan or children, as he had vainly boasted, to aid him other than Allah, nor could he defend himself. When Allah sends the punishment upon him, there will be no one to save him. There, Al-Walayah will be for Allah, the Truth. He is best in reward and best in outcome.
Bulbul asked, "What is Al-Walayah?" Almond said, "Some read it as Al-Walayah, which gives the meaning that all allegiance will be to Allah, i.e., on that Day everyone, believer or disbeliever, will return to Allah, for allegiance and submission to Him when the punishment comes to pass. Some others read it as Al-Wilayah, leaning that on that Day the rule will belong to Allah. Some read Haqqu (True) refering to Al-Wilayah. Others it read Haqqi referring to Allah, may He be glorified.
About the story of these two men, nowadays, a phenomenon has arisen among us, where there is someone who wants to show himself. He said, "I'm better, I'm more moderate than you!" But when he was asked, "What is the difference between being moderate and being fair?" Instead of explaining it, he turned to accuse, "I'm more tolerant than you! You don't show tolerance!" Is it true? What about the paradox of tolerance which states that if a society is tolerant without limit, its ability to be tolerant will eventually be seized or destroyed by the intolerant. Excessive tolerance will be transformed into intolerance. Isn't it when a cup of sweet tea, added with sugar continuously, would become bitter? This is not aimed at obstructing tolerance or moderation, but as a self-reminder, because in fact, the words tolerance and moderation are sometimes used as barriers to the path of truth.
The Prophet (ﷺ) said, "Don't hold yourself to be pious. It is Allah alone Who knows the people of piety among you." In the Surah An-Najm [53]:32, Allah says, "Those who avoid the major sins and immoralities, only [committing] slight ones. Indeed, your Lord is vast in forgiveness. He was most knowing of you when He produced you from the earth and when you were fetuses in the wombs of your mothers. So do not claim yourselves to be pure; He is most knowing of who fears Him." So, don't say yourself more virtous, or more better, but look at your shortcomings in obedience. Then, if there are people who said you were good, if they knew your shortcomings, surely they would stay away."
Almond then said, "O my brothers and sisters, when Allah endows a believer with His bounties, then instead of arrogance and pride, he put his head on the ground and admits those bounted and with his tongue and heart declares, 'O Allah, if You did not grant these gifts, it would have been beyond my power to acquire them. These gifts are from Your side.'Reference :
Fortunate indeed is the man who ponders over the results of an action before the result becomes a fact. And the unfortunate one is he who without thinking about the result, shows arrogance and pride and later on when the results appear, he is sed over the results and shows sorrow and regret. At that time sorrow and regret one of no use. In the parable, rejector was faced with that state of misfortune. And the same day of ill-fortune had to be seen by the Pharaoh and he too was forced to say at that moment that if, before the arrival of the punishment, he had listened to the advice of Prophet Moses, alayhissalam, he would not have had to see the punishment. And Allah know best."
"And present to them the example of the life of this world, [its being] like rain which We send down from the sky, and the vegetation of the earth mingles with it and [then] it becomes dry remnants, scattered by the winds. And Allah is ever, over all things, Perfect in Ability. Wealth and children are [but] adornment of the worldly life. But the enduring good deeds are better to your Lord for reward and better for [one's] hope." - [QS.18:45-46]
- Ibn Kathir, Stories of The Qur'an, Dar Al-Manarah
- Syaikh Safiurrahman Al-Mubarakpuri, Tafsir Ibn Kathir (Abridged) Volume VI, Darussalam
- Maulana Hifzur Rahman Soeharwy, Qasasul Ambiyaa, Idara Impex
- Imam ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyyah, The Paragons of The Qur'an, Dar As-Sunnah
