16

But they were disregardful, of giving thanks to Him and became disbelievers, so We unleashed upon them the flood of the Dam (al-'arim is the plural of 'arima, which is a structure or something similar that holds water back [to be stored] for when it is needed), in other words, [We unleashed upon them] the flood-waters of their valley which had been held back by the mentioned [structure] so that they engulfed their two gardens together with all their property. And We gave them in place of their two gardens two gardens bearing (dhawātay, a dual form of [feminine plural] dhawāt; usually [the form dhātay from] the singular [would have been used]) bitter fruit, bitter and vile (ukul may be read as a genitive annexation [ukulin khamtin] in the sense of 'that which is eaten [thereof being bitter]; or it may be read without [as ukuli khamtin]; and this [phrase] is supplemented [by the following, wa-athlin wa-shay'in min sidrin qalīl) and tamarisk and sparse lote trees.