Al-Qur'an Surah Al-Kahf Verse 40

Mufti Taqi Usmani

then, it is likely that my Lord will give me (what is) better than your garden, and will send to it a punishment from the heavens, and it will become a barren land.

Dr. Mustafa Khattab, the Clear Quran

perhaps my Lord will grant me ˹something˺ better than your garden, and send down upon your garden a thunderbolt from the sky, turning it into a barren waste.

Ruwwad Translation Center

it may well be that my Lord will give me something better than your garden, and send upon your garden a thunderbolt from the heaven, turning it into a barren land.

A. J. Arberry

yet it may be that my Lord will give me better than thy garden, and loose on it a thunderbolt out of heaven, so that in the morning it will be a slope of dust,

Abdul Haleem

my Lord may well give me something better than your garden, and send thunderbolts on your garden from the sky, so that it becomes a heap of barren dust;

Abdul Majid Daryabadi

Then belike my Lord will vouchsafe unto me something better than thy garden and send thereon a belt from the heaven that it become a plane slippery.

Abdullah Yusuf Ali

"It may be that my Lord will give me something better than thy garden, and that He will send on thy garden thunderbolts (by way of reckoning) from heaven, making it (but) slippery sand!-

Abul Ala Maududi

it may well be that my Lord will give me something better than your vineyard, and send a calamity upon your vineyard from the heavens and it will be reduced to a barren waste,

Ahmed Ali

Yet, my Lord may haply give me a garden better than yours, and He may send a thunder-bolt, from the skies and in the morning it will be a barren plain;

Ahmed Raza Khan

“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.”

Ali Quli Qarai

maybe my Lord will give me [something] better than your garden, and He will unleash upon it bolts from the sky, so that it becomes a bare plain.

Ali Ünal

"It may well be that my Lord will give me something better than your vineyard, and send on it (your vineyard) a calamity from heaven so that it becomes a barren waste.

Amatul Rahman Omar

`There is every hope that my Lord will give me a garden better than yours and He may visit this (garden of yours) with thunderbolts from above, so that it is turned into a barren waste.

English Literal

So maybe/perhaps my Lord that He gives/brings me better than your treed garden, and He sends on it thunder storms/small arrows from the sky/space, so it becomes/becomes in the morning slippery/slithery dust.

Faridul Haque

"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."

Hamid S. Aziz

"Why could you not have said when you did enter into your garden, ´As Allah pleases! (Or It is Allah´s will or Allah´s will always comes to pass). There is no power save in Allah!´. Though you see me as less than you in wealth and children;

Hilali & Khan

"It may be that my Lord will give me something better than your garden, and will send on it Husban (torment, bolt, etc.) from the sky, then it will be a slippery earth.

Maulana Mohammad Ali

And wherefore didst thou not say, when thou enteredst thy garden: It is as Allah has pleased -- there is no power save in Allah? If thou consider me as less than thee in wealth and children --

Mohammad Habib Shakir

Then maybe my Lord will give me what is better than your garden, and send on it a thunderbolt from heaven so that it shall become even ground without plant,

Mohammed Marmaduke William Pickthall

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,

Muhammad Sarwar

perhaps my Lord will give me a garden better than yours and strike your garden with a thunderbolt from the sky to turn it into a barren ground,

Qaribullah & Darwish

maybe my Lord will give me a garden better than yours, and send down a thunderbolt from heaven, so that in the morning it will be a slope of dust,

Safi-ur-Rahman al-Mubarakpuri

"It may be that my Lord will give me something better than your garden, and will send on it Husban from the sky, then it will be as a barren slippery earth."

Wahiduddin Khan

my Lord may well give me a garden better than yours and send down thunderbolts from heaven upon your vineyard, turning it into a barren waste;

Talal Itani

Perhaps my Lord will give me something better than your garden, and release upon it thunderbolts from the sky, so it becomes barren waste.

Tafsir jalalayn

maybe my Lord will give me [something] better than your garden (this is the response to the conditional clause [beginning with lawl, `and if only']) and unleash upon it bolts (husbn is the plural of husbna), that is to say, thunderbolts, from the heaven so that it becomes a bare plain, a [piece of] smooth ground upon which no foot can stand firm;

Tafseer Ibn Kathir

فَعَسَى رَبِّي أَن يُوْتِيَنِ خَيْرًا مِّن جَنَّتِكَ

It may be that my Lord will give me something better than your garden, (in the Hereafter),

وَيُرْسِلَ عَلَيْهَا

and will send on it,

on your garden in this world, which you think will never come to an end or cease to be,

حُسْبَانًا مِّنَ السَّمَاء
Husban from the sky,

Ibn Abbas, Ad-Dahhak and Qatadah said -- and Malik narrated that Az-Zuhri said -- a punishment from heaven.

The apparent meaning is that it is a mighty rain which would disrupt his garden and uproot its plants and trees.

As he said;

فَتُصْبِحَ صَعِيدًا زَلَقًا



then it will be as a barren slippery earth.

meaning, smooth mud in which one cannot get a foothold.

Ibn Abbas said,

"Like land without vegetation, where nothing grows.