The word: حُسبانا - (husbana) in verse 40 has been explained by Qatadah as 'punishment' in an absolute sense, by Sayyidna Ibn ` Abbas ؓ as 'fire' and by some as 'stoning.' As for what appears after that in the Qur'an: أُحِيطَ بِثَمَرِهِ (And its produce was struck by destruction from all sides - 42), it obviously means that some major calamity hit his gardens, wealth and things of luxury reducing everything to ruins. The Qur'an does not mention any particular calamity explicitly. It appears that, some fire came down from the skies and burnt the whole thing - as it appears in the Tafsir of 'husban' by Sayyidna Ibn 'Abbas ؓ who has explained it as 'fire.' And Allah knows best.
- 18:4242
وَأُحِيطَ بِثَمَرِهِ فَأَصْبَحَ يُقَلِّبُ كَفَّيْهِ عَلَىٰ مَا أَنْفَقَ فِيهَا وَهِيَ خَاوِيَةٌ عَلَىٰ عُرُوشِهَا وَيَقُولُ يَا لَيْتَنِي لَمْ أُشْرِكْ بِرَبِّي أَحَدًا
And his fruits were surrounded – he therefore remained helplessly wringing his hands upon all that he had spent on it – and it lay fallen on its canopy – and he says, “If only I had not ascribed any partner to my Lord!”
- common.revelation-Meccan
- common.hizb : 119