مَا قَطَعْتُم مِّن لِّينَةٍ أَوْ تَرَكْتُمُوهَا قَآئِمَةً عَلَىٰٓ أُصُولِهَا فَبِإِذْنِ ٱللَّهِ وَلِيُخْزِىَ ٱلْفَـٰسِقِينَ
Maa qata'tum mil leenatin aw taraktumoohaa qaaa'imatan'alaaa usoolihaa fabi iznil laahi wa liyukhziyal faasiqeen
Wszelkie drzewo palmowe, które ścięliście albo które pozostawiliście stojącym na jego korzeniach, ścięliście lub pozostawiliście za zezwoleniem Boga, aby On mógł okryć hańbą bezbożnych.
Whatever palm trees you cut down or left standing on their roots was by God's permission, so that he might disgrace those who defy him.
This verse settles a disagreement among the Muslims besieging the Banu Nadir outside Medina, where some cut palms and others held back, and the reports say each side wondered whether it had done wrong. Both choices are covered by the same permission, the cutting and the leaving alike. Līna names a particular kind of date palm, though commentators differ over which, some reading it as every palm except the prized ʿajwa.