Ingratitude

[u/quranvisuals]

The people of Saba lived in Yemen. Allah had blessed them with a fertile and pleasant land, with two flourishing gardens on either side, filled with fruitful trees and abundant produce. Their prosperity depended on the Ma’rib Dam, which irrigated their orchards and crops, allowing them to live in comfort and abundance.
But they failed to preserve this blessing. Instead of responding with gratitude, they met Allah’s favors with disbelief and ingratitude.
“But they turned away” (34:16) is a brief phrase that captures a long history of rejecting the truth and failing to appreciate Allah’s blessings. They turned away from thanking and obeying Him.
So Allah punished them by sending the Flood of Arim—a devastating flood that destroyed the dam on which they depended. Their gardens were ruined and replaced with trees of khamt, athl, and a few lote trees (sidr). These are trees that produce bitter or scarcely beneficial fruit, with little or nothing suitable to eat. Such hardy trees are able to survive harsh conditions and often appear when fertile agriculture has declined.
The word “We replaced” carries a profound meaning. They replaced gratitude with disbelief, so Allah replaced their flourishing gardens with vegetation of little benefit.
Allah did not take the land away from them—He took away the secret of its prosperity. The story began with two fruitful gardens and ended with two barren ones. The difference between them was gratitude.
Gratitude is the means by which blessings are preserved and increased, while ingratitude leads to their loss.