الآية رقم (266) - أَيَوَدُّ أَحَدُكُمْ أَن تَكُونَ لَهُ جَنَّةٌ مِّن نَّخِيلٍ وَأَعْنَابٍ تَجْرِي مِن تَحْتِهَا الأَنْهَارُ لَهُ فِيهَا مِن كُلِّ الثَّمَرَاتِ وَأَصَابَهُ الْكِبَرُ وَلَهُ ذُرِّيَّةٌ ضُعَفَاء فَأَصَابَهَا إِعْصَارٌ فِيهِ نَارٌ فَاحْتَرَقَتْ كَذَلِكَ يُبَيِّنُ اللّهُ لَكُمُ الآيَاتِ لَعَلَّكُمْ تَتَفَكَّرُونَ

(266) - (Would one of you like to have a garden of palm trees and grapevines underneath which rivers flow in which he has from every fruit? But he is afflicted with old age and has weak offspring, and it is hit by a whirlwind containing fire and is burned. Thus does Allah make clear to you [His] verses that you might give thought.)

Let’s consider how precise is the Holy Quran and how it focuses on the issue of spending which is such a social issue that leads to a strong social connection. On the other hand, here is another instance by the Almighty:

( أَيَوَدُّ أَحَدُكُمْ أَن تَكُونَ لَهُ جَنَّةٌ مِّن نَّخِيلٍ وَأَعْنَابٍ تَجْرِي مِن تَحْتِهَا الْأَنْهَارُ لَهُ فِيهَا مِن كُلِّ الثَّمَرَاتِ ) (Would one of you like to have a garden of palm trees and grapevines underneath which rivers flow in which he has from every fruit?): Someone is so rich that he has a garden of palm trees and grapevines underneath which rivers flow. Gardens in the Holy Quran have rivers either spring or flow beneath them.

( وَأَصَابَهُ الْكِبَرُ ) (…But he is afflicted with old age ): He becomes elderly.

( وَلَهُ ذُرِّيَّةٌ ضُعَفَاءُ ) (…and has weak offspring ): He has a progeny about which he is concerned.

( فَأَصَابَهَا إِعْصَارٌ فِيهِ نَارٌ فَاحْتَرَقَتْ ) (…and it is hit by a whirlwind containing fire and is burned ): A whirlwind has positive and negative ions and may have sparks or even a fire. So, the garden that person owns was burnt and vanished because he had disbelieved in the blessings of Allah (swt), hadn’t fulfilled the rights of Allah (swt) nor paid Zakat or given away to Allah’s creature.

Why such an example is there? Because out of his concern about his weak children, the man had kept his money for his them. In this context, someone might think that they want to keep everything for their children like providing a house for their son and another for their daughter, and so on. The issue here isn’t related only to the human soul but also to continue the wealth for the children. Allah (swt) says:

 

 {وَلْيَخْشَ الَّذِينَ لَوْ تَرَكُوا مِنْ خَلْفِهِمْ ذُرِّيَّةً ضِعَافًا خَافُوا عَلَيْهِمْ فَلْيَتَّقُوا اللَّهَ وَلْيَقُولُوا قَوْلًا سَدِيدًا}

(And let those [executors and guardians] fear [injustice] as if they [themselves] had left weak offspring behind and feared for them. So let them fear Allah and speak words of appropriate justice..) (An-Nisaa: 9)

If you are worried about your children, you must do as Allah (swt) says: (So let them fear Allah and speak words of appropriate justice) because when the man if the above example hadn’t done so, his garden, of palms, grapes, and rivers beneath it, was hit by a quick whirlwind and everything was burnt and vanished in the blink of the eye.

( كَذَٰلِكَ يُبَيِّنُ اللَّهُ لَكُمُ الْآيَاتِ لَعَلَّكُمْ تَتَفَكَّرُونَ ) (…Thus does Allah make clear to you [His] verses that you might give thought): The Almighty has kept hypocrisy away from spending in the previous verses to state (in this verse) what one has to do if they want to secure their children’s future:

 وَأَمَّا الْجِدَارُ فَكَانَ لِغُلَامَيْنِ يَتِيمَيْنِ فِي الْمَدِينَةِ وَكَانَ تَحْتَهُ كَنزٌ لَّهُمَا وَكَانَ أَبُوهُمَا صَالِحًا فَأَرَادَ رَبُّكَ أَن يَبْلُغَا أَشُدَّهُمَا وَيَسْتَخْرِجَا كَنزَهُمَا رَحْمَةً مِّن رَّبِّكَ

(And as for the wall, it belonged to two orphan boys in the city, and there was beneath it a treasure for them, and their father had been righteous. So your Lord intended that they reach maturity and extract their treasure, as a mercy from your Lord.) (Al-Kahf: 82)

So, the righteousness of fathers is the best thing to be inherited by the siblings.