'In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful' He, the Exalted, says: "And the shades thereof are near upon them, and its clusters are made submissive." "And there will circulate among them [servant] boys [especially] for them, as if they were pearls well-protected." "And if you see there [in Paradise], you will see [things of] great bounty and a vast kingdom." The grammarians have disagreed regarding the parsing of His saying, the Exalted: "And the shades [are] near." Al-Zajjaj and others said: It is an adverbial phrase, connected to "reclining." He also said: It may be a description of Paradise, meaning: And He rewarded them with a near Paradise. The majority of people read it as "near." Al-Amash read it as "near upon them." Abu Haywah read it as "near" in the nominative case. Ubayy ibn Ka'b read it as "near," so it is singular and in the nominative case in parsing. The nearness of the shades is due to the abundance of its blessings, for the shaded thing, when it is far away, its shadow is not present, especially from the trees. And "submission" means that the fruit becomes ripe and hangs down towards the ground. The submission in Paradise is according to the will of its inhabitants. Qatadah, Sufyan, and Mujahid said: If a person is standing, he can reach the fruit without effort. If he is sitting, likewise. If he is reclining, likewise. This is its submission; nothing prevents the hand from reaching it, neither distance nor thorns. And from the wording is the saying of Imru' al-Qais: 'Like the tube of watering made submissive.' And from it is the saying of the Ansari: 'And the palm trees have been made submissive, so they are surrounded by their fruit.' And "clusters" is the plural of "cluster," which is the bunch from the palm tree and grapevine and similar things. And "vessels" is the plural of "vessel," and "cup" is that which has no handle or ear from the vessels, and it is a known shape in that land, which the common people call "qab." But they name that which has a handle as such, and that is also incorrect. Qatadah said: The cup is the drinking vessel, and "glasses" are the glass. The readers have differed; Nafi', Al-Kisai, and Abu Bakr from Asim read: "glasses, glasses" with the same reading in both as has been previously mentioned in "chains." Ibn 'Amir and Hamzah read: "glasses, glasses" without the same reading in both. Ibn Kathir read with the same reading in the first and leaving it in the second. Abu 'Amr, if he stops in the first, reads with an alif without tanwin, and leaves the same reading in the second. And His saying, the Exalted: "from silver" implies that it is made of glass and of silver, and that is established for it being made of glass in its transparency and of silver in its essence. Likewise, the silver of Paradise is transparent. Abu Ali said: He made it of silver for its purity and its association with that quality, and it is not truly of silver. This is like the saying of the poet: 'Did the names of the ones who are stingy with connection become known to us, and they were stingy with us, and the stingy one is from miserliness.'

And His saying, exalted is He: "They have measured it" can be understood as the pronoun referring to the angels, or it can refer to the circling ones, or it can refer to the benefactors. The measurement can either be according to the measure of the hands, as said by Al-Rabi', or according to the measure of the watering, as said by Mujahid. All of this is based on the reading of those who read: "They have measured it" with a فتح (fatḥ) on the قاف (qāf). Ibn Abzā, Ali, Al-Jahdari, Ibn Abbas, Al-Sha'bi, and Qatadah read: "It has been measured" with a ضم (ḍamm) on the قاف (qāf) and a كسرة (kasra) on the دال (dāl). Abu Ali said: It is as if the wording is "They have been measured upon it," and in meaning, there is a reversal because the true meaning is to say: "It has been measured upon them." It is like His saying, exalted is He: ﴿Indeed, its keys are burdensome for a group﴾ [Al-Qasas: 76], and like the saying of the Arabs: "When the constellation rises, the stick is thrown upon the lizard," as reported by Abu Ali.

And the fact that ginger is a mixture is as we have mentioned regarding the aroma and the burning of the tongue. This is among the delights of the drink. Ginger is good and hot. The poet said:

It is as if a jinn from the ginger has spent the night in her mouth and has become a swarm.

And Al-Musayyib ibn Al-As said:

And it is as if the taste of ginger is in it when you have tasted it along with the wine's dregs.

And Qatadah said: Ginger is the name of a spring from which the close ones drink pure, and it is mixed for all the people of Paradise. And "a spring" is a substitute for "a cup," or from "ginger" a spring according to the second saying.

And "Salsabeel" is said to be a name meaning smooth, flowing, and easy. Mujahid said: It is the iron of flowing. It is said that it is a description of its spaciousness. Ibn Al-A'rabi said: I have not heard this word except in the Quran. Others said: "Salsabeel" is a description of His saying, exalted is He: "a spring," and "it is called" meaning: it is described and made known. The fact that it is in the accusative confirms that it is a description and not a name. Some of the interpreters said: "Salsabeel" is a command to the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, and to his nation to ask for the way to it. And this is a weak saying because the eloquence and fluency of the Quran does not come like this, and the word is known in the language, and that "sals" and "salsabeel" have the same and close meaning.

And "Mukhalladun" the majority of people said: Its meaning is: they are remaining, from الخلود (khulood). And He made them like boys because they are in the form of boys in age, not changing from that state. Abu Ubaidah and others said: "Mukhalladun" means: adorned, and الخَلَدات (khalaadat) are ornaments that are hung in the ears. And from it is the saying of the poet:

And adorned with silver as if their backs are the humps of the dunes.

And the fame of this language is among the Hamir.

And He, the Exalted, likened them to scattered pearls in their whiteness and their spread in the abodes. They come and go, and in their beauty. From this, a woman was named a pearl and a jewel. Then He, the Exalted, repeated the mention of the vision for emphasis. "Tham" is an adverb, and the doer in it is "ra'ayta" or its meaning. Al-Farra' said: The intended meaning is: If you see what is there, you have seen. And "ma" was omitted. Hamid al-A'raj read: "Tham" with a damma on the thaa. And "al-na'eem" refers to what they are in of good living. And "the great king" said Sufyan: It is the permission of the angels and their greeting to them and their honoring them in that like kings. Most of the interpreters said: "The great kingdom" refers to the vastness of their places. It was narrated from Abdullah ibn Umar that he said: There is no one among the people of Paradise except that a thousand boys serve him, each of them engaged in a different task from his companions. And the lowest of the people of Paradise in rank is one whose kingdom is seen from a distance of a thousand years, seeing its farthest point as he sees its nearest.