Tafseer of The Cave · Al-Kahf · 18:40
It may be that my Lord 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,
Important: The Arabic source text is always authoritative. This translation is a study aid and has not been verified by scholars — do not use it as a basis for religious proof or for deriving rulings (ahkam). When in doubt, always consult the Arabic text and a qualified scholar.
The explanation of the word of Allah, the Exalted: فَعَسَى رَبِّي أَنْ يُؤْتِيَنِ خَيْرًا مِنْ جَنَّتِكَ وَيُرْسِلَ عَلَيْهَا حُسْبَانًا مِنَ السَّمَاءِ فَتُصْبِحَ صَعِيدًا زَلَقًا (Then perhaps my Lord will grant me something better than your garden, and will send upon it a scourge from the sky, so that it becomes a bare, slippery plain [18:40])
Allah, the Exalted, says — informing about the words of the believer who is certain of the return to Allah, spoken to the unbeliever who doubts the coming of the Hour: If you, O man, see me as the one who has less wealth and fewer children than you in the worldly life, then I trust that my Lord will grant me something that is better than your orchard. وَيُرْسِلَ عَلَيْهَا (And that He sends upon it) — that is to say: upon the garden of the unbeliever who said: "I do not believe that this will ever perish" — حُسْبَانًا مِنَ السَّمَاءِ (a scourge from the sky) — He says: a punishment from the sky that strikes it by pelting it and hitting it. The ḥusbān is a plural of ḥusbāna, which are projectiles.
In the same sense as we have stated, the scholars of exegesis also spoke.
* Mention of who said this:
Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning وَيُرْسِلَ عَلَيْهَا حُسْبَانًا مِنَ السَّمَاءِ: a punishment.
It was related to me concerning Muḥammad ibn Yazīd, on the authority of Juwaybir, on the authority of al-Ḍaḥḥāk, who said: a punishment.
Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Ibn Zayd said concerning the word وَيُرْسِلَ عَلَيْهَا حُسْبَانًا مِنَ السَّمَاءِ: a punishment. He said: the ḥusbān is a decree of Allah which He carries out.
Muḥammad ibn Saʿd related to me, saying: my father related to me, saying: my uncle related to me, saying: my father related to me, on the authority of his father, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, who said: the ḥusbān is the punishment.
Al-Ḥasan ibn Muḥammad related to us, saying: Maʿmar informed us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning the word حُسْبَانًا مِنَ السَّمَاءِ: he said: a punishment.
The word فَتُصْبِحَ صَعِيدًا زَلَقًا (so that it becomes a bare, slippery plain) — Allah, the Almighty, says: your garden, O man, becomes thereby a level ground on which nothing stands any longer — everything that was on it of plants and crops has vanished and it has been reduced to a devastated bare plain, "zalaqa", upon which no foot finds a hold because of its slipperiness and the perishing of what grew on it.
Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning the word فَتُصْبِحَ صَعِيدًا زَلَقًا: that is to say: everything that was on it has been mown down, so that nothing remained on it.
Al-Qāsim related to us, saying: al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Ḥajjāj related to me, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj, who said: Ibn ʿAbbās said concerning فَتُصْبِحَ صَعِيدًا زَلَقًا: he said: like a barren plain (al-juruz).
Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, Ibn Zayd said concerning the word فَتُصْبِحَ صَعِيدًا زَلَقًا: he said: a bare slippery plain and a barren bare plain are the same — there is no vegetation in it.
