Tafsir of Ad-Dukhan 44:51

"Indeed, the righteous will be in..."

• "In a station (maqām)": Read with a fatḥah (maqām), meaning the place of standing; the intent is the location. It is a specific term used to convey a general meaning. Read with a ḍammah (muqām), it means a place of residence.
• "Secure (amīn)": Derived from the saying "The man was trustworthy (amina) in his trust, so he is amīn." It is the opposite of a traitor. Describing the place as such is a metaphor, for a frightening place is as if it betrays its occupant through the hardships encountered therein.
• "Silk (sundus)": It is said to be the thin variety of brocade.
• "Thick silk (istabraq)": It is the thick variety, and it is an Arabized form of istabar.
  • If you ask: How is it permissible for a non-Arabic word to appear in the Clear Arabic Qur’an?
  • I say: Once it is Arabized, it ceases to be non-Arabic. The meaning of Arabization is to make it Arabic by modifying it, changing it from its original structure, and subjecting it to the rules of Arabic declension (iʿrāb).
• "Thus (kadhālika)": The kāf is in the nominative case, meaning "The matter is thus." Or, it is in the accusative case, meaning "Like that, We rewarded them."
• "And We will pair them (wa-zawwajnāhum)": ʿIkrimah read it as bi-ḥūrin ʿīn (with ḥūr ʿīn), as an annexation (iḍāfah). The meaning is: "with the ḥūr (wide-eyed) from among the ʿīn (large-eyed)," because the ʿīn may be ḥūr or otherwise; these are from the ḥūr ʿīn, not from the shahla' (blue-eyed/grey-eyed) ones, for example. In the reading of ʿAbd Allāh: bi-ʿīsin ʿīn. ʿĪsā' is the white color tinged with red.
• "They will not taste death therein (lā yadhūqūna fīhā al-mawt)": ʿUbayd ibn ʿUmayr read: lā yudhāqūna (they will not be made to taste). ʿAbd Allāh read: lā yadhūqūna fīhā ṭaʿma al-mawt (they will not taste the flavor of death).
  • If you ask: How is the first death—tasted before entering Paradise—excluded from the death whose tasting is negated therein?
  • I say: The intent is to say: "They will not taste death therein at all." So, the phrase "except the first death" was placed in that position because it is impossible to taste a past death in the future. It is a case of "suspension upon the impossible." It is as if it were said: "If it were possible to taste the first death in the future, then they would taste it."
• "And He protected them (wa-waqāhum)": Read with a shaddah (emphasis).
• "A bounty from your Lord (faḍlan min rabbika)": A gift and reward from your Lord. It means: everything given to the righteous of the bliss of Paradise and salvation from the Fire. It is also read as faḍlun (a bounty), meaning: "That is a bounty."

"So We have only made it easy in your tongue that they might remember. So watch; indeed, they are watching."