His saying, exalted and majestic is He:

﴿A group of the former﴾ ﴿and a few of the latter﴾ ﴿upon woven couches﴾ ﴿reclining on them, facing each other﴾ ﴿youths of perpetual freshness will circulate among them﴾ ﴿with cups and pitchers and a cup from a flowing spring﴾ ﴿they will not suffer from it nor will they be intoxicated﴾ ﴿and fruits of what they select﴾ ﴿and the flesh of birds from what they desire﴾ ﴿and pure companions﴾ ﴿like the hidden pearls﴾ ﴿as a reward for what they used to do﴾ ﴿they will not hear therein any idle talk nor any sinful speech﴾ ﴿except a saying of peace, peace.

"The group": it refers to a gathering or a faction, and it applies to both the few and the many. The wording in this context indicates that the totality of the former is greater than the totality of the latter, which is referred to as the few. The interpreters have differed regarding the meaning of that - a group said - as narrated by Makkī -: what is meant by that are the prophets, peace be upon them, because they were more numerous in the early days of the world. Al-Hasan and others said: what is meant are the predecessors from the nations and the predecessors from this nation. This could either mean that the companions of the prophets, peace be upon them, are associated with their groups to the companions of Muhammad, blessings and peace be upon him, and those are certainly more numerous, or it could mean that the companions of the prophets, peace be upon them, from those who preceded among the past nations are associated with the predecessors from all of this nation, and those are more numerous. It has been narrated that the companions, may Allah be pleased with them, were saddened by the fewness of the predecessors of this nation regarding this interpretation, so it was revealed: ﴿A group of the former﴾ [Al-Waqi'a: 39] ﴿and a group of the latter﴾ [Al-Waqi'a: 40] so they were pleased. It has been narrated from Aisha, may Allah be pleased with her, that she interpreted that the two groups in the nation of every prophet are in the early part a group and in the latter part a few. And the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, said in what has been narrated from him: "The two groups in my nation, the predecessors of the first part of the nation are a group, and the predecessors of the latter part until the Day of Resurrection are few."

And the majority read: "couches" with a damma on the ra, and Abu al-Samali read: "couches" with a fatha on the ra. And "woven": it means interlaced by arranging some of its parts upon others like the rings of armor, for indeed the armor is woven. From this is the saying of Al-A'sha:

And from the weaving of Dawood, woven It moves with the tribe, one by one.

And likewise, the roof of palm fronds and similar things are woven. And from this is the [UNTRANSLATED-LATIN: wadeen] of the she-camel, which is its strap because it is woven. It is like a slain one and a wounded one. And from this is his saying:

To you it rushes, anxious, and its [UNTRANSLATED-LATIN: wadeen] Interfering in its belly is its fetus.

Opposing the religion of the Christians is its religion.

Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with them, said: These woven couches are adorned with gold. And Ikrimah said: They are interlaced with pearls and rubies. And "reclining" and "facing each other" are two states, and in them is a raised pronoun. In the manuscript of Abdullah ibn Mas'ud, may Allah be pleased with him, it is: "reclining on them, in comfort."

(p-194) And 'the boys': they are the young servants, meaning that they are small in age. And He described them, glorified and exalted is He, as eternal, even though everything in Paradise is like that; indicating that they, in the state of boys, are immortal and will not grow old. Mujahid said: they do not die. Al-Farra' said: 'eternal' means: adorned with earrings, which is a type of earrings. The first is more correct; for the Arabs say of one who has grown old but has not aged: he is eternal.

And 'the cups': they are vessels for drinking that have no ears or spouts. Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him, said: they are jars of silver. Abu Salih said: they have round mouths. And Qatadah and Al-Dahhak said: they have no handles. And 'the pitcher': it has a spout. Mujahid said: and an ear, and it is among the vessels of wine among the Arabs, and from it is the saying of Adi ibn Zayd:

And they called to the morning, and a singer stood up with a pitcher in her right hand.

And 'the cup': it is the vessel prepared for drinking from it, provided that it contains wine or nabidh, or in that manner. And when it is empty, it is attributed to its kind, whether it is glass or otherwise, and a vessel that contains water or milk is not called a cup.

And His saying, glorified and exalted is He: 'from a flowing spring', Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him, said: its meaning is: from flowing wine. Its weight is 'ma'loom', its origin is 'ma'ayun', and this is the interpretation of Qatadah. And His saying, glorified and exalted is He: 'they will not suffer from it a headache', most of the interpreters went to mean: that the headache which afflicts their heads from the wine of this world will not reach them. And some said: its meaning is: they will not be separated from it, meaning: their pleasure will not be cut off from them due to any reasons, as the people of the wine of this world are separated by various means of separation. And this is as he said: 'the clouds will part from the city'... the hadith.

(p-195) And His saying, glorified and exalted is He: 'and they will not be intoxicated', Mujahid, Qatadah, Ibn Jubair, and Al-Dahhak said: its meaning is: their minds will not be lost in drunkenness. And 'intoxication' means: being drunk, and from it is the saying of the poet:

............ he drank the intoxication with the cold water of the marsh.

And Ibn Abi Ishaq read: 'and they will not be intoxicated' with a broken zay and a opened ya, from: 'the well has run dry' when it has drawn its water, so it means: their wine has been completed and has run out, thus said Abu Al-Fath. And Abu Hatim narrated it from Ibn Abi Ishaq, Al-Jahdari, Al-Amash, Talhah, Ibn Mas'ud, Abu Abdur-Rahman, and Isa with a damma on the ya and a kasra on the zay, and he said: its meaning is: their drink will not be exhausted. And the Arabs say: 'the man has shed his tears'. They also say: 'he has been intoxicated' when he is drunk, and from it is the saying of Al-Ubayrid:

By my life, if you are intoxicated or sober, truly you were the worst of the regretful, O family of Abjar.

(p-196) And he joined 'the fruits' to 'the cups and the pitchers'.

His saying, glorified and exalted is He: 'from what they desire', it has been narrated that the servant sees a bird flying and desires it, and it descends to him as he desired, and perhaps he eats from it various kinds according to the movement of his desire, as much has been narrated in this meaning.

Hamzah, al-Kisai, and al-Mufaddal from Asim read: "and [with] houris having beautiful eyes" in the genitive case. This is the reading of al-Hasan, Abu Abdur-Rahman, al-Amash, Abu al-Qaqa, and Amr ibn Ubaid. Ubayy ibn Ka'b and Ibn Mas'ud read: "and [with] houris having beautiful eyes" in the accusative case. The remaining ones from the seven read: "and [with] houris having beautiful eyes" in the nominative case. All of these readings are based on the meaning, not on the wording. The genitive case implies: it is said: you will be enjoyed with all of this and with houris having beautiful eyes. The meaning in the reading of the accusative case is: and you will be given all of this and houris having beautiful eyes. The meaning in the nominative case is: for them is all of this and houris having beautiful eyes. It is permissible to connect "and [with] houris" to the pronoun established in "reclining." Abu Ali said: and he did not emphasize the length of the speech as a substitute for confirmation. It is permissible to connect it to "the boys" even if the mention of the houris is concerning. It is permissible to connect it to the implied pronoun in His saying: "upon thrones." In all of this, there is consideration, and the meaning of "houris having beautiful eyes" has been previously mentioned. Ibrahim al-Nakha'i read: "and [with] houris having beautiful eyes."

And He specified "glorified is He" the concealed from pearls because it is the purest in color and furthest from others. "And Umm Salamah, may Allah be pleased with her, asked the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, about this comparison, and he said: "Their purity is like the purity of pearls in the shells that are not touched by hands." And "as a reward for what they used to do" means: these ranks and blessings are according to their deeds. It has been narrated that the dwellings and divisions in Paradise are divided according to the extent of deeds. The very entrance to Paradise is by the mercy of Allah, blessed and exalted is He, and His grace, not by the work of a worker. As for this grace and that entering it is not by the work of a worker, there is a sound hadith about it. The Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, said: "And I am not [saved] except that Allah encompasses me with His grace and mercy."

And "the idle talk" is the fall of speech from obscenity and others. And "the sin" is a source, meaning: no one is sinful there except him or himself by a saying like hearing and being pained by hearing it. And "a saying" is an exception, and the exception is connected. Some said: it is disconnected. And "peace" is an adjective for the saying, as if He, blessed and exalted is He, said: except a little that is safe from these defects and others. And Abu Ishaq al-Zajjaj also said: "peace" is a source, and its connector is "a saying," as if He, blessed and exalted is He, mentioned that they say to each other: peace, peace. And some grammarians said: "peace" is raised by an implied verb whose estimation is: they submitted [to each other] with peace.