Readings from the Quran [14]: Two Vineyards

Once there were two men, to each of whom We gave a vineyard.
The vineyards were surrounded by palm-trees and were watered by a running stream;
and a cornfield lay between them.

Both vineyards yielded an abundant crop.
After the owner has finished gathering in the harvest, one said to the other:
'I am richer than you, and my family is larger than yours.'
In speaking in this way he wronged his own soul.

Then he led the other owner into his vineyard, and said:
'I am sure that this will never perish. And I do not believe that the moment of judgment will ever come.
Yet even if I am taken back to the Lord, I shall be given an even better place than this.'

The other owner replied: 'Have you no faith in the one Who created you from dust,
who caused you to grow from a tiny seed into man?
I declare that God is my Lord, and there is no other god but Him.
When you entered your vineyard, why did you not say:
"That which God has ordained will surely come to pass, there is no strength except in God"?
As you observe I am poorer than you are, and I have fewer children;
yet God may make my vineyard better than yours.
He may send down thunderbolts from the sky on your vines, turning your vineyard into a barren waste,
or He may cause the streams to drain away into the earth so that you will find none of it.'

The proud owner's fruits were destroyed, and he wrung his hands with grief
at all that he had spent on the garden. His vines has tumbled down upon their trellises.
[He cried out:] 'If only I had served no other gods than my Lord!'
There was no one to help him except God; nor was he able to defend himself.

In such ordeals protection comes only from God, the true God.
His is the best recompense, and His the best requital.

Quran 18: 32-44