Tafsir of Ad-Dukhan 44:53

"(They will wear of sundus and istabraq)": This is a second predicate, or a circumstantial qualifier (hal) for the pronoun in the prepositional phrase, or an inception.

Regarding sundus: Al-Tha'labi said it is thin silk, and the singular form is sundasah. Istabraq is its thick variety. Al-Layth said: It is a type of silk garment made from goat hair. Linguists do not differ that both words are Arabized (loanwords); this is what some have mentioned.

In al-Kashshaf: Istabraq is the thick variety of silk, and it is the Arabization of istabr. Al-Khafaji said: The meaning of istabr in the Persian language is "thick" in an absolute sense; then it was specifically applied to thick silk and Arabized. It has been said that it is Arabic, derived from al-baraqah (brightness), and this is supported by the recitation that reads it with a conjunctive hamza—though this is as you see (i.e., questionable).

Some have mentioned that the root of sundus is sundis, meaning it is attributed to "as-Sind," the well-known place, because sundus used to be imported from there; the relative ya was replaced by a sin. Discussion on this has already passed, so recall it. Furthermore, the occurrence of Arabized loanwords in the Mighty Quran does not negate its status as being in a "clear Arabic tongue." The author of al-Kashf transmitted from Jar Allah (al-Zamakhshari) that he said: "Structured speech is composed of basic letters in any language—be it Turkish, Persian, or Arabic; yet, this does not imply that the Arabic [language] is non-Arabic. So it is the same here." Then the author of al-Kashf said: "He means that even if istabr is non-Arabic, it does not necessitate that istabraq is as well."

Ibn Muhaisin recited (wa-istabraqa) as a past-tense verb, as mentioned in al-Bahr. The sentence in that case is, as has been said, parenthetical, or a circumstantial qualifier for sundus. The meaning would be: "They will wear of sundus, and it will have shimmered (ista-baraqa) due to its luster and increased beauty."

In their seating arrangements, so that they may find comfort in one another.