۞ Propound thou unto them the similitude of two men. We appointed to one of them two gardens of vine and hedged both with date-palms, and We placed in-between the twain tillage. 32 Each of those gardens brought forth its produce, and failed not in the least therein: in the midst of them We caused a river to flow. 33 And so [the man] had fruit in abundance. And [one day] he said to his friend, bandying words with him, "More wealth have I than thou, and mightier am I as regards [the number and power of my] followers!" 34 Then he entered his vine-yard and said, wronging himself: "Surely, I do not believe that all this will ever perish. 35 Nor do I think that the Hour will come. Even if I returned to my Lord, I should surely find a better place than this' 36 His companion said to him, in the course of the argument with him: "Dost thou deny Him Who created thee out of dust, then out of a sperm-drop, then fashioned thee into a man? 37 But as far as I am concerned, God alone is my Lord and I set up no partners with Him. 38 "Why didst thou not, as thou wentest into thy garden, say: 'Allah's will (be done)! There is no power but with Allah!' If thou dost see me less than thee in wealth and sons, 39 Yet it may be that my Lord will give me better than thy garden, and will send on it a bolt from heaven, and some morning it will be a smooth hillside, 40 Or the water thereof become deep sunken so that therefor thou canst not make a search. 41 And [thus it happened:] his fruitful gardens were encompassed [by ruin,] and there he was, wringing his hands over all that he had spent on that which now lay waste, with its trellises caved in; and he could but say: "Oh, would that I had not attributed divine powers to any but my Sustainer!" 42 And he had no group to help him against Allah, nor was he capable of taking revenge. 43 For thus it is: all protective power belongs to God alone, the True One. He is the best to grant recompense, and the best to determine what is to be. 44