Saba 34:15
The passage runs over two verses in three scenes: (1) the people of Sabaʾ, two gardens on the right and the left — fertile soil; the call: "eat + give thanks", "baldatun ṭayyibatun" (a goodly town); (2) they turned away; (3) the flood of al-ʿArim came, and the gardens were turned into trees of **bitter fruit, tamarisk, and a few cedars**.
لَقَدْ كَانَ لِسَبَإٍ فِى مَسْكَنِهِمْ ءَايَةٌ ۖ جَنَّتَانِ عَن يَمِينٍ وَشِمَالٍ ۖ كُلُوا۟ مِن رِّزْقِ رَبِّكُمْ وَٱشْكُرُوا۟ لَهُۥ ۚ بَلْدَةٌ طَيِّبَةٌ وَرَبٌّ غَفُورٌ
In Sheba’s homeland there used to be a wonder: two gardens, on the right, and on the left. “Eat of your Lord’s provision, and give thanks to Him.” A good land, and a forgiving Lord
Saba 34:15 · Translation: talal-itani
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The bounty of the soil was set on thanksgiving; when thanksgiving was lifted, even water turned into disaster. The verse is a concrete instance of the ecology-ethics equation.
Observation
The dam of Sabaʾ (the Maʾrib dam, Yemen) is a historically and archaeologically known engineering structure — it operated from the 8th century BCE to the 6th century CE and was finally destroyed (around 575 CE). After this system, which irrigated a broad valley, was destroyed, the region lost its agricultural yield and was replaced by drought-hardy desert plants (tamarisk, cedar). The verse names a historical event as an observation of the relation between environment and morality; archaeology confirms the reality of the scene.
Exegesis
Al-Qurṭubī (al-Jāmiʿ li-Aḥkām al-Qurʾān) holds that the flood of al-ʿArim points to the destruction of the Sabaʾ dam, and that "ʿarim" is an old term for a dam. Al-Rāzī (Mafātīḥ al-Ghayb) notes that the trees "tamarisk and cedar" describe a transition into a desert ecology, and that the verse is a concrete picture of the transformation **fertile soil → arid soil**.
Sources
Tafsīr: al-Qurṭubī · al-Jāmiʿ li-Aḥkām al-Qurʾān; al-Rāzī · Mafātīḥ al-Ghayb; History/Archaeology: the Maʾrib dam (the dam of Sabaʾ), Yemen.