أَوْ تَكُونَ لَكَ جَنَّةٌ مِّن نَّخِيلٍ وَعِنَبٍ فَتُفَجِّرَ ٱلْأَنْهَـٰرَ خِلَـٰلَهَا تَفْجِيرًا 91
Translations
Or [until] you have a garden of palm trees and grapes and make rivers gush forth within them in force [and abundance]
Transliteration
Aw takūna laka jannatum min nakhīlin wa'inab fatufajjir al-anhāra khilālahā tafjīrā
Tafsir (Explanation)
This ayah presents one of the miraculous demands the Meccan disbelievers made of Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him)—that he possess a garden of palm trees and grapes with rivers flowing abundantly through it. According to Ibn Kathir and Al-Tabari, this was part of their conditional demand for belief, reflecting their materialistic objections and spiritual blindness. The ayah illustrates how the disbelievers demanded tangible worldly miracles rather than accepting the greatest miracle: the Quran itself.
Revelation Context
This ayah appears within the broader context of Surah Al-Isra (Meccan period) where Allah addresses the objections and demands of the disbelievers of Mecca who rejected the Prophet's message. The preceding and following ayahs describe various impossible conditions they placed on their belief—this particular ayah follows their demand that he be an angel, emphasizing the escalating and unreasonable nature of their objections.
Related Hadiths
The overall theme relates to Hadith Qudsi in Sahih Muslim where Allah states He has prepared for His righteous servants what no eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no heart has imagined—contrasting the temporary gardens of this world with eternal rewards. Additionally, Surah Al-Isra 17:88 (in the same surah) emphasizes the inimitability of the Quran as the true miracle.
Themes
Key Lesson
This ayah teaches that spiritual blindness and material attachment prevent people from recognizing truth, and that those seeking only worldly signs while rejecting clear guidance have fundamentally misplaced their priorities. For modern readers, it serves as a reminder that the greatest miracles are often spiritual rather than material, and that demanding impossible conditions reflects a hardened heart rather than genuine seeking.