Tafsir of Al-Haqqah 69:24

"Eat and drink in satisfaction..."

"Eat and drink" entails an implicit verb of speech, meaning: it is said to them as such. The pronoun is plural to reflect the meaning.

"In satisfaction" (hani'an) is an adjective for an elided object that serves as the direct object. The original structure is "eat an eating and drink a drinking that is satisfying" (aklan wa sharban hani'an), meaning: undisturbed. The object was elided, and its adjective was placed in its stead. It is linguistically sound to make it an adjective for that (the elided object), even though it is plural, because the form fa'il applies equally to the singular and what is beyond it. Some have posited that the elided term is an infinitive (masdar), as is its adjective—namely, hani'an—explaining its lack of dual form by the fact that the infinitive encompasses the dual as well; do not be heedless of this. It is also permissible that it is in the accusative case as an infinitive derived from the same root as the verb, for fa'il is a form used for infinitives just as it is for adjectives; meaning: "you have been satisfied with satisfaction." The sentence is in the position of a state (hal), and discussion regarding such instances is well-known.

"For what you sent ahead" means: in exchange for the righteous deeds you performed beforehand.

"In the days gone by" means: the past days, which are the days of this world. It is also said that it means the days devoid of true pleasures, which are also the days of this world. It is further said: those which you emptied of carnal desires. The interpretation narrated from Mujahid, Ibn Jubayr, and Waki'—who interpreted these days as the days of fasting—is based upon this. Ibn al-Mundhir recorded from Ya'qub al-Hanafi that he said: "It has reached me that when the Day of Resurrection arrives, Allah the Exalted will say: 'O My allies, how long I looked upon you in the world while your lips were shriveled from drink, your eyes sunken, and your bellies hollow! So, dwell today in your bliss, and eat and drink in satisfaction for what you sent ahead in the days gone by.'" The apparent meaning is that the interpretation of "days gone by" as the "days of fasting" is not to be taken as absolute; rather, generality in the verse is the manifest meaning.