Surah Al-Waaqia (56): Read Online and Download - English Translation

بِأَكْوَابٍ وَأَبَارِ‌يقَ وَكَأْسٍ مِّن مَّعِينٍ (with bowls and jugs and a goblet of pure wine...56:18). The word akwab, plural of kub, refers to 'cups or glasses used for drinking. The word abariq, plural of ibriq, refers to jugs with sprouts'. The word ka's refers to 'a wine glass'. The word main refers to the fact that the glasses will contain wine drawn from a flowing spring.

لَّا يُصَدَّعُونَ عَنْهَا (from which they will neither suffer headache ....56:19). The Arabic verb is derived from suda' which means 'headache'. When worldly wine is taken in large quantity, it gives the drinker excruciating headache and makes him feel dizzy. The Heavenly wine is free from such harmful effects.

لَا يُنزِفُونَ nor will they be intoxicated...56:19). The Arabic verb is derived from nazf, the root-meaning of which being 'the well became empty, all the water having been taken out of it.' Here it means 'the spring of his brain or mind or senses became exhausted.'

وَلَحْمِ طَيْرٍ‌ مِّمَّا يَشْتَهُونَ (and the meat of birds that they desire....56:21]. It is recorded in a Prophetic Tradition that the inmates of Paradise will get meat of whatever birds they desire, as and when they desire it.

The Reward of Those on the Right

وَأَصْحَابُ الْيَمِينِ مَا أَصْحَابُ الْيَمِينِ As for the People of the right, How (lucky) are the People of the Right!...56:27). The People of the Right are initially the God-fearing and the righteous believers. Sinful believers will also join the People of the Right, some through the sheer grace of Allah, and others will be forgiven through the intercession of a prophet or a friend of Allah. Some sinful believers will be punished for their sins, but after serving their punishment, they too will be purified and cleansed of the dross of their sins, after which they will join the People of the Right, because the fire of the Hell is not, in fact, a punishment; it is rather a way to cleanse him from the dross of his sins. (Mazhari)

فِي سِدْرٍ‌ مَّخْضُودٍ (..amid lote-trees with no thorns - 58:28). The word sidr refers to 'lote-tree' and makhdud refers to 'a tree having its thorns removed'. It also means 'a tree having the branches bent because of abundance of its fruit'. Unlike the lote-trees of this world, the Heavenly lote-trees have a different description. Their fruits will be as large as the clay jugs, and their taste cannot be compared to those found in this world, (as described in a Hadith).

وَطَلْحٍ مَّنضُودٍ (and the trees of tulh, having layers one upon the other - 28:29). The word talh refers to 'banana tree' and mandud means 'clustered', fruits piled on top of each other as in a bunch of bananas.

وَظِلٍّ مَّمْدُودٍ (and a shade, spread all over...56:30). The Holy Prophet ﷺ is reported to have said, as recorded in Sahihain, that in Paradise there is a tree so large that a rider may travel for a hundred years under its shade, but would not be able to pass it.

وَمَاءٍ مَّسْكُوبٍ (...and water, poured forth...56:31) This means the water will be flowing constantly on the surface of the ground.

وَفَاكِهَةٍ كَثِيرَ‌ةٍ (and a lot of fruits...56:32). The word Kathirah [ abounding ] has two senses: [ 1] there will be plenty of fruits; and [ 2] there will be an uncountable variety and kinds of fruits.

لَّا مَقْطُوعَةٍ وَلَا مَمْنُوعَةٍ (neither interrupted [ in any season ], nor prohibited ...56:33) The word maqtu` ah means the fruits the supply of which is cut off at the end of the season. In this world most fruits are seasonal; some bear in summer, some in winter and others in rainy season. Once the season of the fruit is over, it ceases to be available. However, the supply of the fruits of Paradise never runs out in any season. Rather they will always be available for those who want to eat from them. Whenever these fruits are desired, they will be available and easy to grasp by Allah's power. The word mamnu` ah (prohibited) means that in this world there are caretakers appointed to look after the gardens, who stop and prohibit people from picking the fruits, but in the gardens of Paradise there will be no such hindrance. The inmates will be able to pick them whenever they wish.

وَفُرُ‌شٍ مَّرْ‌فُوعَةٍ (...and mattresses of high quality....56:34). The word rush is the plural of firash which means 'bed, couch, mattress'. The word marfu'ah lexically means 'upraised, elevated'. The couches could be upraised or elevated for one of several reasons: [ 1] because the place itself is high; [ 2] because the mattresses will not be on the ground, but on the thrones or beds; or [ 3] because the couches themselves will be thick (and of high quality). Some exegetes have taken the word 'rush' in the sense of 'women', because it is one of the meaning of 'firash' is referred as firash, as in the Prophetic Tradition اَلوَلَدُ لِلفَرَاشِ. 'The child belongs to the firash'. The word firash refers to 'wife'. This is corroborated by the characteristics of the women of Paradise described in the forthcoming verses. In this case, the word marfu` ah would mean 'high-ranking'.

إِنَّا أَنشَأْنَاهُنَّ إِنشَاءً (Surely We have created those [ females ] a fresh creation...56:35) The word insha' means 'to create'. The pronoun هُنَّ hunna refers to the women of Paradise, although there is no mention of them in the immediately preceding verses. However, they have been mentioned in connection with 'the Foremost' in distantly foregoing verses [ 22-23]. If the word firash in the foregoing verse (34) refers to the women of Paradise, the antecedent of the pronoun is quite obvious. Likewise, the mention of beds, couches, thrones and other delightful items gives the pronoun the context to refer to women. The meaning of the verse is: 'We have created the Paradisiacal women in a special way, that is, the houris are created without being born biologically, and the women of this world who will enter the Paradise will also be reshaped in a way that the women who were ugly, dark-coloured or old in this world will be made beautiful, young and graceful.' It is recorded in Tirmidhi and Baihaqi on the authority of Sayyidna Anas that the Holy Prophet ﷺ said in explanation of Verse 35 that the women who were old, blear eyed, with gray hair and ugly features in the world will be made beautiful and young in this new creation. Baihaqi also reports from Sayyidah ` A'ishah ؓ that an old lady asked the Messenger of Allah ﷺ to pray to Allah that she may enter Paradise. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said in a humorous way: لَا تَدخُلُ الجَنَّۃُ عَجُوزُ "Old ladies will not enter Paradise." Hearing this the old lady got very sad, and according to some narrations, started weeping. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ then explained that she would not be old when she would enter Paradise; she would be transformed into a young beautiful woman. Then the Holy Prophet ﷺ recited this verse 35. [ Mazhari ]

أَبْكَارً‌ا - 56:36). The word abkaran, being the plural of bikr, means 'virgins'. The sense is the creation of the maidens of Paradise will be of such a nature that, even after every sexual intercourse, they will remain like virgins.

عُرُ‌بًا (...amorous to their husbands,...56:37). The word ` urub, is the plural of ` arubah. This refers to a woman who loves her husband passionately and is his beloved.

أَتْرَ‌ابً (...matching them in age...56:37) The word atrab is the plural of tirb, meaning 'a person of equal age who played together with his mate in dust'. The verse means that men and women will be made of equal ages in Paradise. Some narrations report that they will be about thirty-three years old. [ Mazhari ]

ثُلَّةٌ مِّنَ الْأَوَّلِينَ وَثُلَّةٌ مِّنَ الْآخِرِ‌ينَ (many from the earlier generations, and many from the later ones....56:39-40) In connection with sabiqun, (the Foremost) two views of the commentators were quoted earlier as to the identity of 'the earlier' and the 'later' generations. If 'the earlier' refers to the generations from 'Adam (علیہ السلام) to the period just prior to the advent of the Holy Prophet ﷺ and 'the later generations' refers to the 'Ummah of the Holy Prophet ﷺ till the Day of Judgment, as some of the commentators have opined, then the verses would mean: 'the People of the Right' will constitute a 'large party' of believers and the righteous from all the previous communities combined together, while there will be a 'large party' from the Ummah of the Holy Prophet ﷺ alone. In this case, it is a great honor for the Ummah of the Holy Prophet ﷺ that, despite the short period they lived in this world, they could be compared to all the previous communities who were headed by hundreds of thousands of Prophets (علیہم السلام) . Besides, the words 'many from the later generations' has the scope of being larger in number than the 'many from the earlier generations'.

If we go by the second view of the commentators, who say that both 'earlier' and 'later' generations are from the ummah of the Holy Prophet ﷺ ، then even the later generations of this ummah will not be totally deprived of 'the Foremost', though their number in later generations will be less. As for the People of the Right, their number will be large in both 'earlier' and 'later' generations. This fact is proved by a Hadith reported by Bukhari and Muslim from Sayyidna Mu` awiyah ؓ in which the Holy Prophet ﷺ has said, 'A group of my 'Ummah will always remain on the truth and dominant, unharmed by those who fail to support them and those who defy them, until the Last Hour begins.'.