۞ And strike for them a similitude: two men. To one of them We assigned two gardens of vines, and surrounded them with palm-trees, and between them We set a sown field; 32 each garden produced its fruit and did not fail to yield its best; We even caused a river to gush forth in the midst of them, 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 And he entered his garden, while he was a wrong-doer in respect of his own soul; he said: I imagine not that this shall ever perish. 35 I think not that the Hour will ever come, and if indeed I am brought back unto my Lord I surely shall find better than this as a resort. 36 His companion replied, in the course of their discussion, "Do you deny Him who created you from dust, from a small drop of fluid, then formed you into a man? 37 But as for me, He, Allah, is my Lord, and I do not associate anyone with my Lord. 38 And wherefore did you not say when you entered your garden: It is as Allah has pleased, there is no power save in Allah? If you consider me to be inferior to you in wealth and children, 39 “So it is likely that my Lord will give me a garden better than yours, and send bolts of lightning from the skies on your garden – it therefore turns into a barren plain.” 40 Or its waters should sink down into the ground so that you are unable to find it. 41 So it was, and all his fruit was destroyed. The vines had all fallen down on their trellises, and their owner wrung his hands, bewailing all that he had spent on his garden. He said, "Would that I had not associated anyone with my Lord!" 42 And there was for him no company to aid him other than Allah, nor could he defend himself. 43 There, the (only) protection comes from Allah, the True One. He is the Best to reward, and the Best to give success. 44