Tafsir of As-Saffat 37:49

"Eggs" (al-bayd) is a well-known term. It is a collective noun; the singular is baydah (an egg), and it is pluralized as buyud, as in the poet’s saying: In a barren, desolate land where the mounts, as if they were the sandgrouse of the rugged terrain, had once been chicks, their eggs.

The intent is to liken them to eggs protected by feathers within a nest or otherwise, such that hands have not touched them, and dust has not affected their smoothness. It refers to a whiteness tinged with a slight yellowness, accompanied by a luster, as found in pearls. The majority maintain that this specifically refers to ostrich eggs in their nesting grounds, because they are more beautiful in appearance than all other eggs and further removed from being touched by hands or reaching anything that might alter their color.

The Arabs liken women to eggs, calling them "the eggs of the secluded chambers" (baydat al-khudur), from which is the saying of Imru’ al-Qais: And a secluded virgin, whose chamber is not approached, I enjoyed a fleeting moment of dalliance with her.

Whiteness tinged with a slight yellow is highly desirable in women. It is said that such is the case with whiteness tinged with a slight red in men, whereas pure, stark whiteness is not praised; hence, it came in the noble descriptions [of the Prophet]: "He was white, not amhaq (stark, pale white)."

Ibn al-Mundhir recorded from Ibn ‘Abbas—as did others from Ibn Jubayr, Ibn Abi Hatim, and Ibn Jarir from al-Suddi—that "hidden eggs" (al-bayd al-maknun) are what lie beneath the hard shell, between it and the yellow yolk. The intent is to liken them to that after cooking, in terms of smoothness and tenderness. For when an egg is cooked and peeled, that which is beneath the shell appears with the utmost smoothness and perfect tenderness. Hence, one hears the common folk say in praise of a woman, "She is like a peeled egg."

Al-Tabari favored this, arguing that the description "hidden" (maknun) necessitates it, unlike the common view, for the exterior of an eggshell is not "hidden." However, it is countered that the common understanding of "eggs" is the combination of the shell and its contents. When one says, "I ate such-and-such an egg," the act of eating is a contextual indicator (qarinah) for intending what is inside the shell, not the whole, since the shell is not customarily eaten. Thus, what al-Tabari said does not hold. Consequently, the first interpretation is the accepted one, and the meaning of "hidden" therein is apparent, as you have heard.

Al-Khafaji transmitted this meaning from some of the later scholars and criticized it, claiming it arose from a lack of knowledge of the language of the Arabs; yet it is as if he did not come across the narration from the "Ink of the Ummah" (Ibn ‘Abbas) and those with him, otherwise his statement would not have been possible. Perhaps the mentioned narration is not established. Similarly, what Abu Hayyan recounted from the "Ink of the Ummah" that al-bayd al-maknun means "the guarded jewel" is rejected because the wording of the text is too remote for that.

A group said: The intent is to liken them to eggs in the proportionality of their parts, and the egg is the most proportional of all things, and proportionality is praised. Hence, some literary figures have said, composing amatory verse: The proportionality of limbs is in her, so you see no discrepancy in them; rather, they came in perfect measure. You know, however, that even if we were to grant that proportionality in an egg is well-known among them, the description "hidden" does not appear to have a role in that comparison.

The comparison was considered problematic in light of the verse in the "Bride of the Quran" (Surah Ar-Rahman): "As if they were rubies and coral" (55:58), for that is manifest in that their colors are red, and how does this compare to being likened to "hidden eggs" as previously heard? Therefore, it is necessary that the comparison be intended in terms of smoothness and tenderness, as related in the second opinion, or in terms of the proportionality of parts, as said lastly.

It was answered that it is permissible that those likened to "hidden eggs" are not those likened to "rubies and coral." Furthermore, the notion that whiteness tinged with yellow is the most beautiful of colors in women is not conceded; rather, it is beautiful, and similar to it in beauty is whiteness tinged with red, provided that "most beautiful" varies according to the temperaments of the beholders. People have different paths regarding what they love. And in Paradise, there is that which the souls desire and the eyes delight in.

It is also said: It is permissible that their comparison to "hidden eggs" is in view of the whiteness of their bodies tinged with yellow—excluding their faces—and their comparison to "rubies and coral" is in view of the whiteness of their faces tinged with red. It is also said that their comparison to this is not because their whiteness is tinged with red, but rather they are likened to rubies in terms of clarity and to coral in terms of smoothness and beauty of appearance. And if "coral" (al-marjan) is taken to mean small pearls, as a group has held, rather than the well-known red beads, then the comparison could be in terms of whiteness tinged with yellow, and thus there is no difficulty at all.