Transliteration:( Fa a'radoo fa-arsalnaa 'alaihim Sailal 'Arimi wa baddalnaahum bijannataihim jannataini zawaatai ukulin khamtinw wa aslinw wa shai'im min sidrin qaleel )
55. In that He sent thirteen Prophets to them, who had reminded them of the Bounties of Allah Almighty. In spite of this, they did not accept faith and totally denied receiving Divine Bounties.
56. Then Allah Almighty punished them by sending severe floods, which destroyed their gardens. Their homes and buildings were buried under the sand and that territory was ruined to such an extent that the Arabs would recite its destruction as an example.
 57. This tells us that ingratitude is a means of destruction of bounty. The people of Saba, at one stage, were living in the lap of luxury, but due to their ingratitude, Allah Almighty snatched everything from them.
58. This means how edible plants and trees. generally, grow in jungles, but their fruit is not tasty at all.Â
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The tafsir of Surah Saba verse 16 by Ibn Kathir is unavailable here.
Please refer to Surah Saba ayat 15 which provides the complete commentary from verse 15 through 17.
(34:16) But they turned away[28] and so We let loose upon them a devastating flood[29] that swept away the dams and replaced their gardens by two others bearing bitter fruits, tamarisks, and a few lote trees.[30]
28. That is, they adopted the way of disobedience and ingratitude instead of obedience and gratefulness.
29. The word arim as used in sayl al-arim in the text is derived from the South Arabic word ariman, which stands for a dam. In the ancient inscriptions that have been unearthed in the ruins of the Yaman, this word has been commonly used in this meaning. For example, in an inscription dated 542 or 543 A.D. which Abraha, the Abyssinian governor of the Yaman, had gotten installed after the repairs to the great dam of Maarib, this word has been used repeatedly in the meaning of a dam. Therefore, sayl al- arim implies a flood that comes when a dam breaks.
30. That is, as a result of the flood that came after the dam burst, the whole land was laid waste. The canals which the Sabaeans had dug out by building dams between the mountains were ruined and the irrigation system destroyed. Then the same land which had been like a garden before became a jungle of wild growth and no eatable plants were left in it except the small plume like fruit of the lote bushes.
[1224]- i.e., caused by a break in their dam. Another meaning is "the overwhelming flood."
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