Tafsir of Al-Waqi'ah 56:17

Tafsir of Surah Al-Waqi'ah (Verse 17)

Verse Segment: (17) yuṭāfu ‘alayhim wildān... (There will go around among them young boys...)

Linguistic Note on Wildān:

• Al-Wildān is the plural of al-Walīd.
• Originally, Walīd is derived from the pattern fa‘īl implying the passive participle (maf‘ūl), meaning "one who has been born" (al-mawlūd).
• However, the term has become predominantly used for young children, irrespective of whether they have just been born.
• The evidence for this is that they also call a young female servant walīdah (with the feminine marker tā’ marbūṭah). If they strictly adhered to the original derivation, they would have dropped the tā’ like in qatīl (slain one).

Interpretations of Wildān in this Context:

If we establish the common usage, there are two main interpretations for al-wildān:

1. Interpretation 1: They are the young children of the believers (based on the original meaning).
   • This view is weak. Allah Almighty has informed us that the young children of the believers will be joined with their righteous fathers.
   • Furthermore, some righteous believers will have no children. It is not permissible for the child of one believer to serve another believer (i.e., someone else's father).
   • This leads to two problems: Either these boys are exclusively assigned to certain righteous individuals, meaning those without children will have no boys serving them, OR the child of one person serves the father of another, which implies a deficiency or slight upon the father.

2. Interpretation 2: They are based on the common usage, referring to young children generally, without regard to their origin as "newly born."
   • In this case, it means young boys, similar to the usage in the verse: {And there will go around among them young boys (ghilmān) who are theirs} (At-Tur: 24).

Interpretation of Mukhallaḍūn (Immortal/Everlasting):

Regarding the description {Mukhallaḍūn} (immortal/everlasting), there are two interpretations:

1. Derivation from Khulūd (Eternity/Permanence):
   • Based on this, there are two further possibilities:
     • A: They are eternally abiding, having no death or annihilation.
     • B: They will never change from their current state; they will remain perpetually young, never growing old or developing beards (yaltaḥḥūn).

2. Derivation from Al-Khuladah (Earrings):
   • This refers to rings worn in their ears (earrings).

The first interpretation (derivation from Khulūd) is stronger and more appropriate for the context.

Verse Segment:

{with cups, and ewers, and a cup of pure drink} (7 < {bi-akwābin wa-abārīqa wa-ka’sin min ma‘īn} >)