فَأَعْرَضُوا فَأَرْسَلْنَا عَلَيْهِمْ سَيْلَ الْعَرِمِ وَبَدَّلْنَاهُم بِجَنَّتَيْهِمْ جَنَّتَيْنِ ذَوَاتَيْ أُكُلٍ خَمْطٍ وَأَثْلٍ وَشَيْءٍ مِّن سِدْرٍ قَلِيلٍ (16)
(34:16) But they turned away *28 and so We let loose upon them a devastating flood *29 that swept away the dams and replaced their gardens by two others bearing bitter fruits, tamarisks, and a few lote trees. *30
*28) That is, "They adopted the way of disobedience and ingratitude instead of obedience and gratefulness."
*29) The word 'arim as used in sayl al- arim in the Text is derived from the South Arabic word ariman, which stands for a "dam". In the ancient inscriptions that have been unearthed in the ruins of the Yaman, this word has been commonly used in this meaning. For example, in an inscription dated 542 or 543 A.D., which Abraha, the Abyssinian governor of the Yaman, had got installed after the repairs to the great dam of Maa`rib, this word has been used repeatedly in the meaning of a dam. Therefore, sayl al- arim implies a flood that comes when a dam breaks.
*30) That is, "As a result of the flood that came after the dam burst, the whole land was laid waste. The canals which the Sabaeans had dug out by building dams between the mountains, were ruined and the irrigation system destroyed. Then the same land which had been like a garden before, became a jungle of wild growth and no eatable plants were left in it except the small plumlike fruit of the lote bushes."