Tafsir of As-Saffat 37:40-49

It is also possible that it means: a provision described by characteristics for which it was created—such as pleasant taste, fragrance, delight, and beauty of appearance. It is also said: "known" in time, as in His saying: {And they will have their provision therein, morning and evening} (Maryam: 62).

Qatādah said: The "known provision" is Paradise, but the phrase {in gardens} makes this unlikely. His saying {and they are honored} is what he refers to. Scholars define this reward as a form of praise and exaltation; it is among the greatest things the souls of the ambitious should yearn for, just as the humiliation and insignificance of the people of Hell is among the greatest things their souls should recoil from.

{From a maʿīn} (spring): From a flowing drink, or from a flowing river—that which runs upon the face of the earth, visible to the eyes. It is described with what water is described because it flows in Paradise in rivers just as water flows. Allah the Almighty said: {And rivers of wine} (Muhammad: 15).

{White}: An adjective for the cup.

{Delicious}: Either it is described as pleasure itself, as if it were pleasure in its essence; or it is the feminine form of ladhdh. It is said: ladhdha al-shayʾ (the thing was pleasant), so it is ladhdh and ladhīdh. Its measure is faʿl, like saying: rajul ṭabb (a skilled man). The poet said: And pleasant (ladhdh) like the taste of the Sarakhdī wine, I left it... In the land of the enemies for fear of calamities.

{No ghawl (harm) in it}: From ghālahu—if he destroys or corrupts him. From this is the ghūl (ogre) in the myths of the Arabs. In their proverbs: "Anger is the ghūl of forbearance."

{Nor will they be yunzafūn} (intoxicated/drained): In the passive voice, from nazafa al-shārib (the drinker was drained) when his intellect is gone. A drunkard is called nazīf and manzūf. It is said of one stabbed: nuzifa and died, when all his blood has drained out. And: "I drained the well until I nazaftuhā," meaning I left no water in it. In their proverbs: "More cowardly than a manzūf (drained one) in his flatulence."

It is also recited: (yunzafūn)—anzafa the drinker, when his intellect or his drink is gone. The poet said: By my life, whether you are intoxicated (unziftum) or sober... You were the worst of drinking companions, O family of Abjar. Its meaning is: he became one who has nazf (loss of intellect). Similar to this are aqshaʿa al-saḥāb (the clouds cleared) and qashaʿtuhu al-rīḥ (the wind cleared them), and akabba al-rajul (the man fell prone) and kababtuhu (I made him fall).

In the recitation of Ṭalḥah ibn Muṣarrif: (wa-yunzafūn) with a ḍamma on the zāy, from nazafa-yanzifu like qaruba-yaqrubu, when one becomes drunk. The meaning is: there is no corruption in it at all—of the types of corruption found in drinking wine, such as stomach cramps, headaches, hangovers, brawling, idle talk, sin, or otherwise. Nor will they be intoxicated, which is the greatest of its corruptions, so He singled it out for mention.

{Large-eyed}: The najl (wide) eyes. They are likened to the hidden ostrich eggs in their nests; the Arabs liken women to them and call them "eggs of the chambers."