Tafsir of Ar-Rahman 55:56

Surah Ar-Rahman (55): Verse 56

{فِيهِنَّ قَاصِرَاتُ الطَّرْفِ} (In them are those of modest gaze.)

The First Discussion: On the Order (of Description)

The arrangement of the description is of the utmost beauty.

1. Initially, the dwelling place, Paradise (al-Jannah), was mentioned.
2. Then, what one enjoys while strolling was mentioned: {possessing branches} (v. 48) and {in them are two springs} (v. 50).
3. Next, what is consumed was mentioned: {In both of them is every kind of fruit} (v. 52).
4. Finally, the place of rest after eating—the couches/furnishings—was mentioned, followed by what is present with them on those couches.

The Second Discussion: To What Does {فِيهِنَّ} (In Them) Refer?

There are three possible interpretations:

1. To the Blessings (Alā’): Meaning, the modest-gazing women are among the blessings.
2. To the Couches (Al-Furush): Meaning, the modest-gazing women are upon the couches.

Both of these views are weak:

• The first is weak because if the modest-gazing women are specified as being among the blessings, this offers no unique benefit, as the two gardens, the springs, and the fruits are all blessings.
• The second is weak because the couches were already established as their location by the statement {reclining upon carpets} (v. 54), and the pronoun referring back to them was used in {their linings} (v. 54) (using biṭā’inaha), not biṭā’inahunna (their linings, referring to the women). Furthermore, the statement {In them are good things} (v. 70) follows later, where the couches are not mentioned, suggesting the pronoun must refer to something else.

The soundest view (the third): The pronoun refers back to the Two Gardens (Al-Jannatayn).

The use of the plural pronoun {فِيهِنَّ} (in them—plural) here, while the dual pronoun {فِيهِمَا} (in them—dual) was used for the springs (v. 50) and fruits (v. 52), is explained by the fact that Paradise has three aspects:

1. Unity (as one garden): Due to the interconnectedness of its trees and the absence of barren lands or submerged areas, it appears as a single, continuous garden.
2. Duality (as two gardens): Because it encompasses two comprehensive categories of good things: what exists in the world and what does not; what is known and what is unknown; what can be described and what cannot; and both physical and non-physical pleasures.
3. Plurality (as many gardens): Due to its vastness, abundance of trees, locations, rivers, and dwellings, it resembles multiple gardens.

Thus, the garden is one from one perspective, two from another, and many from a third.

Given this, we note that in this world, gathering wives for intimacy in one place is impossible due to spatial constraints, impossibility, or the degradation of the women (a man only gathers wives if they are subservient concubines). If the women are noble and wealthy, they are not gathered. In this world, desire increases with the beauty of the spouses, but also with status and grandeur.

In Paradise, the desirable companions possess beauty, status, honor, and perfection. Each woman may have numerous maidservants and attendants, increasing pleasure due to her perfection. Therefore, each one requires a spacious area suitable for her, causing the single, interconnected Garden to become multiple in terms of dwelling separation. Hence, the plural {فِيهِنَّ} is used. In contrast, in the world, the lack of spatial separation (i.e., the dual reference in {فِيهِمَا}) is a sign of grandeur and pleasure. This distinction is a subtle point.

The Third Discussion: {قَاصِرَاتُ الطَّرْفِ} (Modest of Gaze)

This phrase is an adjective standing in place of a deleted noun (the mawsūf). The deleted noun is women (an-nisā’) or spouses (azwāj). It is as if the text said: "In them are women of modest gaze."

A subtle point here: Allah only mentioned the women by their attributes, never by their generic noun (e.g., nisā’). He said sometimes {Houris with wide eyes} (56:22), sometimes {Arab, of equal age} (55:56), and here {of modest gaze} (55:56). This is for two reasons:

1. Indication of their Seclusion and Modesty: The generic noun reveals more of the reality than the description. If you describe something as moving, desiring, eating, and drinking, the description is less comprehensive than simply calling it an "animal" or "human." By using only descriptions, their inherent nature of seclusion is emphasized.
2. Honoring Them: To enhance their beauty in the eyes of those promised Paradise. The daughters of kings are only mentioned by their attributes.

The Fourth Discussion: The Meaning of {قَاصِرَاتُ الطَّرْفِ}

This comes from al-qaṣr (restraint/prevention), meaning they prevent their eyes from looking at others. Or it comes from al-quṣūr (being deficient/shortcoming), meaning their eyes lack longing for others.

The apparent meaning is derived from al-qaṣr (restraint), as qaṣr is praiseworthy, whereas quṣūr (deficiency) is not.

It is also possible that it means they have restrained their sight, so their sight is restrained, and they are qāṣirāt (restrainers). This is an attribution of the active agent to the passive object (i.e., they restrain their own sight). The evidence for this is that qaṣr is praiseworthy, while quṣūr is not.

Following this interpretation, there is a subtle point: Allah later says {Houris, kept in seclusion} (55:72) (ḥūrun maqṣūratun). So they are maqṣūrat (secluded/confined) and qāṣirāt (restrainers).

There are two aspects to this:

1. They restrain their sight, as is the habit of chaste women, and they restrain themselves within their tents, as is the custom of women who veil themselves, keeping their eyes from wandering.
2. This signifies their high status and chastity. A woman who lacks self-restraint or guardians is somewhat degraded. If she has powerful guardians, she refrains from going out or appearing publicly, which indicates her high status. If, when she does go out, she does not look left or right, she is chaste in herself.

Thus, Allah combines a reference to their high status by saying {maqṣūrat} (confined by their guardians—here, Allah is their guardian) and a reference to their chastity by saying {qāṣirāt al-ṭarf} (restrainers of the gaze). The ultimate subtlety is that Allah mentioned the attribute indicating chastity before the attribute indicating high status. In the higher gardens, they are described as {qāṣirāt}, and in the lower gardens, as {maqṣūrat}.

The indication that {maqṣūrat} refers to high status is that they are described as makhdūrāt (veiled/kept in seclusion), not mutakhaddirāt (veiling themselves). This implies that someone else (a guardian) veils them, like one who pitches a tent or lowers a curtain, unlike one who veils herself and locks her own door. We will explain this further when interpreting the subsequent verse.

The Fifth Discussion: {قَاصِرَاتُ الطَّرْفِ}

This indicates their chastity and the beauty of the believers in their eyes, making them devoted to their husbands because their gaze is occupied by them, preventing them from looking elsewhere. It also indicates modesty, as the gaze (ṭarf) involves the movement of the eyelid; the Houris do not move their eyelids or raise their heads.

The Sixth Discussion: {لَمْ يَطْمِثْهُنَّ} (None has touched them)

There are several interpretations:

1. None has exhausted them (i.e., worn them out).
2. None has had intercourse with them.
3. None has touched them.

The third meaning (touching) is closest to their state and most fitting for describing their perfection. However, the word ṭamth is not explicit for mere touching. If mere touching were intended, a more appropriate word would have been used, as Allah used the word mass (touching) in the context of divorce in the world: {or you have touched them} (Qur'an 2:237) and commanded {so keep away} (Qur'an 2:222), without using an explicit word for sexual intercourse.

If one argues that the ambiguity remains, as Allah used the metaphor of touching (lamastum) for intercourse in the world (Qur'an 4:43), why is the same metaphor not used here for the Hereafter?

The response is: Intercourse in the world is mentioned metaphorically because it is an indulgence of desire that weakens the body and hinders worship, and in some contexts, it is blameworthy (like excessive eating). In the Hereafter, it is devoid of any blameworthy aspect. How could it be otherwise when wine in Paradise is counted among pleasures, and consuming it is perpetual?

Therefore, Allah mentioned it in the world using a subtle, veiled metaphor to indicate its potential negative aspects, but in the Hereafter, He used a word closest to explicit statement, or an explicit word. {Ṭamth} is more indicative than jimā‘ (intercourse) or waqā‘ (copulation) because those terms imply gathering/union, whereas ṭamth suggests freedom from any aspect of blame.

The Seventh Discussion: The Benefit of the Phrase {قَبْلَهُمْ} (Before Them)

If Allah had said, "No human or Jinn has touched them," it would imply a negation of a believer touching them, which is not the case (as believers will marry them).

The Eighth Discussion: The Benefit of Mentioning the Jinn

This is mentioned even though it is commonly believed that Jinn do not have sexual relations. This belief is incorrect; Jinn have offspring. The dispute is whether they have relations with humans or not. The famous view is that they do, otherwise, there would be no lineage or ancestry in Paradise. Mentioning the Jinn here is to negate any potential intercourse with them, just as it negates intercourse with humans.

{كَأَنَّهُنَّ الْيَاقُوتُ وَالْمَرْجَانُ} (As if they were rubies and coral.)

{فَبِأَيِّ آلَاءِ رَبِّكُمَا تُكَذِّبَانِ} (Then which of the favors of your Lord will you both deny?)