۞ 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 Both the gardens gave yields and gave no shortfall in it – and We made a river to flow between the two. 33 And he had fruit. And he said unto his comrade, when he spake with him: I am more than thee in wealth, and stronger in respect of men. 34 He went into his garden in a state (of mind) unjust to his soul: He said, "I deem not that 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 friend said to him, "How can you disbelieve in the One who turned clay into sperm out of which He created you? 37 But as for me, He is Allah, my Lord, and I do not associate with my Lord anyone. 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 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, 40 Or else of a morning its water may sink underground, and you will not find a trace of it." 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 for now he had nought to succour him in God's stead, nor could he succour himself. 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