Lessons from Surah Kahf - Part 3

 

bismillah ar-rahman ar-raheem

• The second story in the surah is about The Story of the Person of Two Gardens. In this story the believer and the disbeliever are equal with each other, compared to the story of The People of the Cave, in which the believers were in a weak position, and in the story of Dhul-Qarnayn the believers are in a stronger position, while the disbelievers were weak.

• The story of Musa alayhi salam and Khidr alayhi salam came before the story of Dhul-Qarnayn, which is about knowledge. It seems to imply that the more knowledge one has, the more power and dominance they have over their enemy.

• Before the beginning of the Story of the Person of Two Gardens Allah describes the Heaven of the believer, which is permanent and beautiful. When the Story of the Person of Two Gardens begins we are told about the heaven of the disbelievers on earth, which is temporary. 

• The story is about a rich man, a disbeliever, and a poor man, the believer. The rich man had two gardens of grapevine, which were entirely green. All produce of the gardens was edible, meaning that everything harvested brought profit.

• This rich man has a close friend who was poor, and they had conversations on a regular basis. In one of these conversations the rich man mentioned the abundance of his wealth, ascribing the blessings to his own hard work.

• In the rich man’s failure to be humble and attribute his blessings to Allah, he wronged himself far more than he wronged his friend through his words.

• The lesson to learn is that none of our success is by our own hands, in fact it is by the will and permission of Allah.

“And he went into his garden while in a state (of pride and disbelief) unjust to himself. He said: "I think not that this will ever perish. "And I think not the Hour will ever come, and if indeed I am brought back to my Lord, (on the Day of Resurrection), I surely shall find better than this when I return to Him."” (18:35-36)

• The rich man boasted how efficiently his garden was running, and how nothing could put a stop to it. He further spoke to himself that he felt doubts regarding the end of the world.

• The more one is attached to the temporary world, the more he avoids talking and thinking about the hereafter and death.

• The poor man didn’t react when he was insulted, but when the rich one voiced his thoughts about the hereafter, the poor man thought to advise him. The poor man shows us what humility is. 

• The poor man advises his friends and reminds him that he is nothing but an insignificant drop of fluid, and that he should not be ungrateful. That he did not even have the power to make himself a man, and that he is created from the same mud as the others, so he is not any superior.

• The language the poor man used implied that he is giving advice to himself first, which is the correct method. When we advise others, we must remind ourselves that we are not any better, and that we need that advice as much as anyone else. 

• When we advise someone regarding a sin that we haven’t ourselves committed, we must not forget who kept us away from that sin, and that we are not safe from falling into it.

• The shirk that the rich man did was shirk in reliance on Allah subhanahu’watala, a minor shirk that many of us fall into. He relied on his money and garden, not relying on Allah solely. 

• It is Allah who gives our sleep permission to give us rest, and it is He who allows the food to give us energy. Fire is supposed to burn, yet it is only by Allah’s permission that it burns, so when Ibrahim was exposed to the fire, the fire became cold. Similarly, the knife is supposed to slaughter, but when Ibrahim ran it across Ismail’s neck, it had no effect because Allah did not give it permission to.

• The poor man reminds the rich man that if it was the permission of Allah, the rich man’s gardens could be destroyed and turned into swamp lands, and he would not be able to do anything. He says to him that the river that irrigates the garden could sink into the earth and be gone forever. 

• The poor man did not curse, or wish bad for his friend, he merely reminded him of the possibilities of what may happen to the garden. 

• That night the garden was surrounded by a punishment that destroyed the garden, leaving the garden twisted and turned. 

• The scholars were split about whether the rich man’s tawbah was accepted for not, but the story implies that losing everything to gain Allah is worth it. As long as you are attached to Allah, the outcome is always good.