Tafsir of At-Tur 52:23

Surah At-Tur (52): Verse 23

{يتنازعون فيها كأسا} (They will exchange among themselves a cup [of wine])

This describes a custom similar to that of kings when they sit in their assemblies for drinking. Servants bring them fruits and meats while they are drinking.

The phrase {يتنازعون} (they will exchange/contend for) can mean they pass it to one another. It is also possible that tanāzu' means pulling or vying for it. In that case, their vying would be playful contention, not hostile dispute. This implies a kind of pleasure. This serves to illustrate the nature of drinking in this world: people boast about the quantity they drink, but not the quantity they eat. This is why, if one person drinks, the other sees it as obligatory to drink as much as his companion, but he does not feel obligated to eat as much as his companion or table-mate.

{لا لغو فيها ولا تأثيم} (In it [the wine] there will be no idle talk, nor any sin.)

Whether we say {فيها} (in it) refers back to Paradise or to the Cup, its mention is due to the description of drinking and the recounting of what happens in the world. Thus, Allah states that the drinking in the Hereafter lacks everything that drinking in the world entails:

1. No idle talk (لغو), which is caused by the loss of reason.
2. No sin (تأثيم), which is caused by the arousal of desire and anger when reason and understanding are heightened.

There is a third interpretation: that the drinking will not involve what drinking in the world involves, so he will not be considered sinful (لا يؤثم).

A fourth interpretation is that التأثيم (sinfulness/imputation of sin) here means intoxication leading to undesirable behavior. In this case, there is a fine arrangement: some people, when intoxicated, remain composed, rational, and unaccustomed to revelry; they become quiet, sleep, neither harm nor are harmed, neither babble nor listen to babbling. Others, however, become unruly. Thus, the verse states: {لا لغو فيها} (no idle talk), implying the absence of the negative consequences associated with the latter group.

**! 7 < { ويطوف عليهم غلمان لهم كأنهم لؤلؤ مكنون } . > 7

<** (And there will circulate among them youths, [as beautiful] as preserved pearls.)