Tafsir of Al-Kahf 18:31

Perhaps it is more appropriate that the predicate be the sentence of His saying, the Exalted: "Those—for them are Gardens of Eden." The sentence "Indeed, We..." and what follows is parenthetical. Such forms of parenthetical insertion are as Ibn Atiyyah and others have stated: "The successor is that Allah has clothed him in the garment of kingship, through which ends are hoped for." You know that the parenthetical nature here is not definitive. Based on the previous possibility, it is possible that this sentence is an initiation (a new beginning) to clarify the reward, and it is also possible that it is a predicate following another predicate, according to the school of those who do not require multiple predicates to have the meaning of a single predicate—which is the truth. That is: those described with glorious attributes—for them are gardens of dwelling, given that 'adn means dwelling and settling. It is said, "He adana (settled) in a place" if he stays and resides there; from this comes the word ma'dan (mine) because jewels settle within it.

From Ibn Mas'ud: 'Adn is a garden among the gardens, located in their midst. The reason for attributing the gardens to it is that, due to its vastness, every side of it is as if it were a garden itself. "Rivers flow beneath them, they will be adorned therein with bracelets of gold." The first min (from) denotes commencement, and the second is for clarification (bayaniyyah). The prepositional phrase serves as an adjective for "bracelets." This is what Al-Zamakhshari and others preferred. Abu al-Baqa permitted the first min to be redundant (extra) in the object, according to the view of Al-Akhfash, supported by the Quranic verse: "And they are adorned with bracelets." He also allowed it to be explanatory, meaning: "things or adornments made of bracelets." Others allowed it to be partitive (tab'idiyyah), functioning in the place of the object, just as he and others allowed that. It was also suggested that it relates to "they are adorned," but you can see the state of that.

Asa'wir (bracelets) is the plural of aswirah, which is the plural of siwar (with kasra or damma on the sin), which is the adornment worn on the forearm. It is an Arabic word. Al-Raghib said: "It is an arabized form of dastwarah." It is said to be the plural of aswar, which is the plural of siwar; its original form was asawir, but it was lightened by dropping the ya; thus, on both accounts, it is a plural of a plural. They did not make it a plural of siwar initially because they observed that fi'al is not typically pluralized to afa'il according to analogy. From 'Amr ibn al-'Ala: the singular is aswar. Ibn al-Anbari recited [a poem] in support of this. In the Qamus: Al-siwar (like kitab and ghurab) and al-qalb are like al-aswar, with the plural aswirah, asawir, asawirah, suwar, and su'ur. This aligns with what was narrated from Ibn al-'Ala. This was also reported from Qutrub and Abu 'Ubaydah. It is indefinite to signify the greatness of its beauty through its encompassing nature.

Ibn Marduyah reported from Sa'd from the Prophet (peace be upon him) that he said: "If a man from the people of Paradise were to look out and his bracelets were to appear, his light would dim the light of the sun just as the sun dims the light of the stars." Al-Tabarani in Al-Awsat and Al-Bayhaqi in Al-Ba'th narrated from Abu Hurayrah that the Prophet (peace be upon him) said: "If the least adorned person of Paradise had his adornment measured against the adornment of all the people of the world, what Allah the Exalted adorns him with in the Hereafter would be better than the entire adornment of the people of the world." Abd ibn Humayd and Ibn al-Mundhir narrated from 'Ikrimah: "The people of Paradise are adorned with bracelets of gold, pearls, and silver; they are lighter upon them than anything—they are merely light." The two Shaykhs narrated from Abu Hurayrah that the Prophet (peace be upon him) said: "The adornment reaches the believer to the extent that his wudu reaches." Abu al-Shaykh and others narrated from Ka'b al-Ahbar that he said: "Allah has an angel—or in another report: there is an angel in Paradise—if I wished to name him, I would. He crafts the adornments of the people of Paradise from the day they were created until the Day of Resurrection. If any of it were brought out, it would repel the radiance of the sun."

The question that "men wearing bracelets is a fault in this world, so how are they adorned with them in the Hereafter?" is easily dispelled. That it is a fault is only so among a people who are not accustomed to it, not absolutely. I do not think you are in any doubt that something may be a fault among one people and not among others. There is nothing in our matter that is a rational command declaring it a fault at all times, in all places, and among all peoples. If you persist in that, you have adorned yourself with the adornment of ignorance and exited the bounds of reason. Aban from 'Asim read: min aswirah (with the deletion of an alif and the addition of a ha), which is one of the plurals for siwar, as you have heard.

"And they will wear green garments." This is because green is the most beautiful color, and the soul expands with it more than any other. It is reported in a tradition that it increases the light of the eye. It is said: "Three things take away sadness: water, greenery, and a beautiful face." The apparent meaning is that their clothing is not restricted to what is mentioned, for they have therein whatever their souls desire and their eyes delight in. Ibn Abi Hatim narrated from Salim ibn 'Amir that a man is clothed in a single hour with seventy garments, the least of which is like the shaqiq al-nu'man (anemone). Some say that the restriction is possible, and the verse "they have therein whatever their souls desire" does not contradict this, as they may not desire—nor their eyes delight in—anything other than that. The use of the indefinite here is to convey that its beauty can hardly be described.

Ibn Abi Hatim narrated from Ka'b: "If one garment of the garments of the people of Paradise were to be spread out in this world today, whoever looked upon it would be struck dead, for their sight could not bear it." Aban from 'Asim and Ibn Abi Hammad from Abu Bakr read wa-yalbasuna (with a kasra on the ba). "Of sundus." Al-Jawaliqi said: "It is thin silk brocade in Persian; it is arabized." In the Qamus: "It is a type of bizyun or a type of thin silk brocade, arabized without dispute." Al-Layth said: "The people of Paradise and the exegetes do not disagree that it is arabized." You know that there is a disagreement regarding Al-Shafi'i—may mercy be upon him—and the claim that he is not of the people of language or the exegetes has some weight in the soul. Shidlah said: "It is thin silk brocade in Hindi, and its singular—according to what is narrated from Tha'lab—is sandasah." Some claimed that its origin is sundus, and this type of brocade was brought from the Sindh, so the ya was changed to a sin, just as was done with sadi to make sadis. This is a statement that would only be accepted by a Sindhi or a Hindu. It is told that a group of Indians from a city called Broach (with the Persian jim)—and they spoke a language called Sanskrit—came to the second Alexander with a gift, among which was this brocade. He had never seen it before and asked, "What is this?" They said, "Sandun" (with a nun at the end), so the Romans changed it to Sandus, and then the Arabs to sundus. It is definitely arabized from that term used by that group. However, there is no certainty whether it was its name in their language originally or the name of the city from which it was brought, applied to it as is the case with many names of goods today. Allah the Exalted knows the truth of the matter.

"And istabraq." Ibn Jarir and others narrated from Qatadah and 'Ikrimah that it is thick silk brocade. Ibn Bahr said: "It is silk brocade woven with gold." In the Qamus: "It is thick silk brocade, or brocade made with gold, or heavy silk garments like brocade, or red fabric as if it were pieces of bowstrings." The view held by the majority of exegetes and linguists is the first. It is—as Ibn Abi Hatim narrated from Al-Dahhak—the arabized form of istabrah, which is a non-Arabic word meaning "the thick." The famous view is that "the thick" in Persian is called istabar (without a ha). Ibn Qutaybah says it is Roman, arabized, and its origin is istabrah, but they changed the ha to a qaf. It appears in the poetry of Al-Muraqqish. Ibn Durayd said: "It is Syriac, arabized," and mentioned of its origin what they mentioned. It is said its origin is istafrah, with a letter after the ta between the fa and the ba. Some claimed that istabraq is "the thick, beautiful silk brocade" in both the Arabic and Persian languages, so there is a correspondence between the two. Al-Azhari is reported to have considered this correct. It is pluralized to abariq, and as in the Qamus and elsewhere, it is diminutivized as ubayriq. Ibn Muhaysin read wa-istabraq (with a connecting hamza and a fatha on the qaf) wherever it occurs, making it—as the outward speech of Ibn Khalawayh implies—a past tense verb on the pattern of istaf'ala from al-bariq (brilliance), except that istaf'ala here corresponds to the simple form baraqa. The outward speech of Al-Ahwazi in Al-Iqna' is that he alone read it this way and made it a noun prohibited from declension (mamnu' min al-sarf), not a past tense verb.

The author of Al-Lawami' said: "Ibn Muhaysin read wa-istabraq with a connecting hamza in the entire Quran, with tanwin." It is possible he deleted the hamza for lightness, contrary to analogy, or he made it an Arabic word from "the garment baraqa—yabriqu—bariqan," if it gleams with its newness and freshness, so its form would be istaf'ala from that. When he used it as a noun, he treated it like a verb in connecting the hamza, and like a fully declinable noun in declension and tanwin. Most interpretations hold that it is Arabic and not arabized. It is not hidden that this contradicts the two previous narrations. It is possible to say that Ibn Muhaysin had two readings for it: one declinable and one prohibited from declension, and some reported one reading while others reported another. However, Ibn Jinni mentioned that the reading of the fatha on the qaf is a mistake, or like a mistake. Abu Hayyan said: "He only said that because treating it as a noun and prohibiting it from declension is not permissible, as it is not a proper noun, so it would be a mistake. But it is possible to treat it as a past tense verb, so it is not a mistake." In combining sundus and istabraq, there is an indication that those people in Paradise have whatever they desire. They are mentioned indefinitely to magnify their status; why not, when they are beyond what is observed of the world's sundus and istabraq, indeed beyond what is imagined of them? Al-Bayhaqi narrated from Abu al-Khayr Murfid ibn 'Abdullah: "In Paradise, there is a tree that grows sundus; from it are the garments of the people of Paradise." Al-Tayalisi, Al-Bukhari in Al-Tarikh, Al-Nasa'i, and others narrated from Ibn Abdullah that a man said: "O Messenger of Allah, tell us about the garments of the people of Paradise: are they created or woven?" He said: "Rather, the fruits of Paradise split open to reveal them." The apparent meaning is that whether they are of sundus or istabraq, this is the case.

Adornment was mentioned before clothing because adornment is greater to the soul, more beloved to the heart, more precious in value, and sweeter to the eye. The verb was placed in the passive voice to indicate that they do not undertake this themselves; rather, the servants perform it, as the poet said: "Instincts within the boughs of grace, which are adorned with rubies and scattered pearls." Likewise, other kings in the world have their servants dress them in crowns and similar signs encrusted with jewels. The act of "wearing" was attributed to them (the believers) because a person does that himself, especially when it involves covering the nakedness. It is said the first (adornment) was passive and the second (wearing) active to indicate that adornment is a favor from Allah, while wearing is their due. This was countered by saying it contains a Mu'tazili leaning, which is pushed away by careful consideration.

"Reclining therein on elevated couches." The plural of arikah, as more than one has stated, is the bed inside the canopy; if it is not inside, it is not called an arikah. Al-Bayhaqi narrated this from Ibn Abbas. Al-Raghib said: "The arikah is a canopy over a bed. Its naming as such is either because it is made on the ground from the arak—a well-known tree—or because it is a place of residence, from their saying: 'araka in the place, urukan.' The root of arwak is staying to graze the arak, then it was used metaphorically for other types of residing." The interpretation of it as such is narrated from 'Ikrimah.

Al-Zajjaj said: "The ara'ik are the mattresses in the canopies." It is apparent that, according to all views, it is Arabic. Abu al-Jawzi related in Funun al-Afnan that it is the beds in Ethiopian. Regardless, the speech—as some researchers have stated—is a metonymy for their luxury and comfort, for reclining on ara'ik is the state of the luxurious and comfortable. The traditions are clear that they recline and enjoy luxury. Ibn Abi Hatim narrated from Al-Haytham ibn Malik al-Ta'i that the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said: "A man will recline on a recline for the span of forty years, not turning from it nor tiring of it; whatever his soul desires and his eye delights in comes to him." Ibn al-Mundhir and a group narrated from Ibn Abbas that upon the ara'ik are mattresses spread out in the sky for the span of a farsakh. Ibn Muhaysin read 'al-ara'ik by transferring the vowel of the hamza to the lam of the definite article and assimilating the lam of "on" ('ala) into it, thus deleting the alif of 'ala due to the presumed silence of the lam of the definite article. Similar to this is the poet's saying: "My soul has become accustomed to the earth," meaning 'ala al-ard.

"Excellent is the reward," that which they were promised of Paradise and its bliss, "and good is the resting place," meaning the ara'ik or the Gardens. "Reclining"—the discussion regarding this has preceded just now.