Tafseer of Abundance · Al-Kawthar · 108:1
Indeed, We have granted you, [O Muhammad], al-Kawthar.
Important: The Arabic source text is always authoritative. This translation is a study aid and has not been verified by scholars — do not use it as a basis for religious proof or for deriving rulings (ahkam). When in doubt, always consult the Arabic text and a qualified scholar.
The word concerning the explanation of the saying of the Exalted: إِنَّا أَعْطَيْنَاكَ الْكَوْثَرَ (1)
He, the Exalted in His remembrance, says: إِنَّا أَعْطَيْنَاكَ — We have given you, O Muḥammad, الْكَوْثَرَ (al-Kawthar). The exegetes differed over the meaning of al-Kawthar. Some said: it is a river in Paradise which Allah bestowed upon His Prophet Muḥammad ﷺ.
* Mention of who said this:
Yaʿqūb related to me, saying: Hushaym related to us, saying: ʿAṭāʾ ibn al-Sāʾib informed us, on the authority of Muḥārib ibn Dithār, on the authority of Ibn ʿUmar, that he said: "Al-Kawthar is a river in Paradise; its banks are of gold and silver, it flows over pearls and rubies, its water is whiter than milk and sweeter than honey."
Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Jarīr related to us, on the authority of ʿAṭāʾ, on the authority of Muḥārib ibn Dithār al-Bāhilī, on the authority of Ibn ʿUmar, concerning the saying إِنَّا أَعْطَيْنَاكَ الْكَوْثَرَ , he said: "A river in Paradise; its banks are of gold, its bed flows over pearls and rubies, its water is whiter than snow and sweeter than honey, and its bottom is more fragrant than musk."
Abū Kurayb related to us, saying: ʿUmar ibn ʿUbayd related to us, on the authority of ʿAṭāʾ, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn Jubayr, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, who said: "Al-Kawthar is a river in Paradise; its banks are of gold and silver, it flows over rubies and pearls, its water is whiter than snow and sweeter than honey."
Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Yaʿqūb al-Qummī related to us, on the authority of Ḥafṣ ibn Ḥumayd, on the authority of Shimr ibn ʿAṭiyya, on the authority of Shaqīq or Masrūq, who said: I said to ʿĀʾisha: O Mother of the Believers, what is buṭnān al-janna? She said: "The middle of Paradise: on its banks are palaces of pearls and rubies, its soil is musk, and its pebbles are pearls and rubies."
Aḥmad ibn Abī Surayj al-Rāzī related to us, saying: Abū al-Naḍr and Shabāba related to us, they said: Abū Jaʿfar al-Rāzī related to us, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, on the authority of a man, on the authority of ʿĀʾisha, who said: Al-Kawthar is a river in Paradise — no one places his two fingers in his ears without hearing the murmur of that river.
Abū Kurayb related to us, saying: Wakīʿ related to us, on the authority of Abū Jaʿfar; and Ibn Abī Surayj related to us, saying: Abū Nuʿaym related to us, saying: Abū Jaʿfar al-Rāzī informed us, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Anas, who said: Al-Kawthar is a river in Paradise.
He said: Wakīʿ related to us, on the authority of Sufyān, on the authority of Abū Isḥāq, on the authority of Abū ʿUbayda, on the authority of ʿĀʾisha, who said: Al-Kawthar is a river in Paradise — a hollowed-out channel of pearl.
Wakīʿ related to us, on the authority of Isrāʾīl, on the authority of Abū Isḥāq, on the authority of Abū ʿUbayda, on the authority of ʿĀʾisha: "Al-Kawthar is a river in Paradise; on its banks stand as many vessels as the number of the stars in the sky."
He said: Wakīʿ related to us, on the authority of Abū Jaʿfar al-Rāzī, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of ʿĀʾisha, who said: Whoever wishes to hear the murmur of al-Kawthar, let him place his two fingers in his ears.
Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Mahrān related to us, on the authority of Sufyān, on the authority of Abū Isḥāq, on the authority of Abū ʿUbayda, on the authority of ʿĀʾisha, who said: A river in Paradise; its banks are of hollowed-out pearl.
He said: Mahrān related to us, on the authority of Abū Muʿādh ʿĪsā ibn Yazīd, on the authority of Abū Isḥāq, on the authority of Abū ʿUbayda, on the authority of ʿĀʾisha, who said: "Al-Kawthar is a river in the innermost part of Paradise, in the middle of Paradise; through it runs a river whose banks are of hollowed-out pearl, and on its banks stand for the people of Paradise as many vessels as the number of the stars in the sky."
Muḥammad ibn Saʿd related to me, saying: My father related to me, saying: My uncle related to me, saying: My father related to me, on the authority of his father, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning إِنَّا أَعْطَيْنَاكَ الْكَوْثَرَ , he said: A river which Allah gave to Muḥammad ﷺ in Paradise.
Aḥmad ibn Abī Surayj related to us, saying: Masʿada related to us, on the authority of ʿAbd al-Wahhāb, on the authority of Mujāhid, who said: "Al-Kawthar is a river in Paradise; its bottom is penetrating musk, and its water is wine."
Ibn Abī Surayj related to us, saying: ʿUbayd Allāh related to us, saying: Abū Jaʿfar informed us, on the authority of al-Rabīʿ, on the authority of Abū al-ʿĀliya, concerning إِنَّا أَعْطَيْنَاكَ الْكَوْثَرَ , he said: A river in Paradise.
Al-Rabīʿ related to us, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, on the authority of Sulaymān ibn Bilāl, on the authority of Sharīk ibn Abī Namir, who said: I heard Anas ibn Mālik relate to us, he said: When the Messenger of Allah ﷺ was carried up to the heaven, Jibrīl accompanied him through the lowest heaven. Suddenly he stood before a river with a palace of pearls and emerald on its bank. He leaned forward to smell its bottom, and behold: it was musk. He said: "O Jibrīl, what is this river?" He said: "This is al-Kawthar which your Lord has reserved for you."
Others said: by al-Kawthar is meant the abundant good (al-khayr al-kathīr).
* Mention of who said this:
Yaʿqūb related to me, saying: Hushaym related to me, saying: Abū Bishr and ʿAṭāʾ ibn al-Sāʾib informed us, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn Jubayr, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, that he said concerning al-Kawthar: It is the abundant good which Allah bestowed upon him. Abū Bishr said: I said to Saʿīd ibn Jubayr: Some people claim that it is a river in Paradise. Saʿīd said: "The river which is in Paradise is part of the good which Allah bestowed upon him."
Abū Kurayb related to us, saying: Ismāʿīl ibn Ibrāhīm related to us, on the authority of ʿAṭāʾ ibn al-Sāʾib, who said: Muḥārib ibn Dithār asked: What did Saʿīd ibn Jubayr say about al-Kawthar? I answered: He said: Ibn ʿAbbās said: It is the abundant good. Whereupon he said: By Allah, that is the truth.
Ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Raḥmān related to us, saying: Sufyān related to us, on the authority of ʿAṭāʾ ibn al-Sāʾib, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn Jubayr, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, who said: Al-Kawthar is the abundant good.
Ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: Muḥammad ibn Jaʿfar related to us, saying: Shuʿba related to us, on the authority of Abū Bishr, who said: I asked Saʿīd ibn Jubayr about al-Kawthar, and he said: It is the abundant good which Allah bestowed upon him. I said to Saʿīd: We heard that it is a river in Paradise. He said: It is the good which Allah bestowed upon him.
Ibn al-Muthannā related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Ṣamad related to me, saying: Shuʿba related to us, on the authority of Abū Bishr, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn Jubayr, concerning إِنَّا أَعْطَيْنَاكَ الْكَوْثَرَ , he said: The abundant good.
Ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: Muḥammad related to us, saying: Shuʿba related to us, on the authority of ʿUmāra ibn Abī Ḥafṣa, on the authority of ʿIkrima, who said: It is the prophethood and the good which Allah bestowed upon him.
Ibn al-Muthannā related to us, saying: Ḥarmī ibn ʿUmāra related to us, saying: Shuʿba related to us, saying: ʿUmāra informed me, on the authority of ʿIkrima, concerning the saying of Allah إِنَّا أَعْطَيْنَاكَ الْكَوْثَرَ , he said: The abundant good, and the Qurʾān and the wisdom.
Yaʿqūb related to me, saying: Ibn ʿUlayya related to us, saying: ʿUmāra ibn Abī Ḥafṣa related to us, on the authority of ʿIkrima, that he said: Al-Kawthar is the abundant good.
Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Mahrān related to us, on the authority of Sufyān, on the authority of ʿAṭāʾ ibn al-Sāʾib, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn Jubayr, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning إِنَّا أَعْطَيْنَاكَ الْكَوْثَرَ , he said: The abundant good.
He said: Mahrān related to us, on the authority of Sufyān, on the authority of Hilāl, who said: I asked Saʿīd ibn Jubayr about إِنَّا أَعْطَيْنَاكَ الْكَوْثَرَ , he said: Allah made the good abundant for him. I asked: Is it a river in Paradise? He said: A river and more.
Zakariyyā ibn Yaḥyā ibn Abī Zāʾida related to us, saying: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us, on the authority of ʿĪsā ibn Maymūn, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, who said: Al-Kawthar is the abundant good.
Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr related to me, saying: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us, saying: ʿĪsā related to us; and al-Ḥārith related to me, saying: al-Ḥasan related to us, saying: Warqāʾ related to us — both on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, who said: Al-Kawthar is the abundant good.
Al-Ḥārith related to me, saying: al-Ḥasan related to us, saying: Warqāʾ related to us, on the authority of Mujāhid concerning al-Kawthar, he said: All the good.
Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Mahrān related to us, on the authority of Sufyān, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, who said: The good of this world and the Hereafter.
Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning al-Kawthar, who said: It is the abundant good.
Abū Kurayb related to us, saying: Wakīʿ related to us, on the authority of Sufyān, on the authority of ʿAṭāʾ ibn al-Sāʾib, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn Jubayr, who said: Al-Kawthar is the abundant good.
He said: Wakīʿ related to us, on the authority of Badr ibn ʿUthmān, who heard ʿIkrima say concerning al-Kawthar: That which the Prophet ﷺ was given of good, prophethood and the Qurʾān.
Aḥmad ibn Abī Surayj al-Rāzī related to us, saying: Abū Dāwūd related to us, on the authority of Badr, on the authority of ʿIkrima, concerning His saying إِنَّا أَعْطَيْنَاكَ الْكَوْثَرَ , he said: The good which Allah gave the Prophet ﷺ, namely the prophethood and Islam.
Others said: It is the watering-basin (ḥawḍ) bestowed upon the Messenger of Allah ﷺ in Paradise.
* Mention of who said this:
Abū Kurayb related to us, saying: Wakīʿ related to us, on the authority of Maṭar, on the authority of ʿAṭāʾ, concerning إِنَّا أَعْطَيْنَاكَ الْكَوْثَرَ , he said: A watering-basin in Paradise bestowed upon the Messenger of Allah ﷺ.
Aḥmad ibn Abī Surayj related to us, saying: Abū Nuʿaym related to us, saying: Maṭar related to us, who said: I asked ʿAṭāʾ while we were circumambulating the House about the saying إِنَّا أَعْطَيْنَاكَ الْكَوْثَرَ , and he said: A watering-basin bestowed upon the Messenger of Allah ﷺ.
The opinion which in my judgment is closest to the correct one among all these opinions is the opinion of the one who says: it is the name of the river which was bestowed upon the Messenger of Allah ﷺ in Paradise, which Allah describes by the attribute of abundance (al-kathīr), because of the greatness of its worth.
We say that this is the most preferable opinion because of the continuous number of narrations from the Messenger of Allah ﷺ which confirm this.
* Mention of the narrations which have been transmitted concerning this:
Aḥmad ibn al-Miqdām al-ʿIjlī related to us, saying: al-Muʿtamir related to us, who said: I heard my father relate, on the authority of Qatāda, on the authority of Anas, who said: When the Prophet of Allah ﷺ was carried up to the heaven — or as he expressed it — he came upon a river whose banks consisted of hollowed-out ruby, or he said: hollowed-out. The angel who was with him struck his hand into it and brought forth musk. Muḥammad said to the angel who was with him: "What is this?" He said: "This is al-Kawthar which Allah has bestowed upon you. And the Sidrat al-Muntahā was made visible to him, and he saw beside it a tremendous sight" — or as he expressed it.
Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, on the authority of Anas, that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: "While I was walking through Paradise, I suddenly found myself at a river whose banks consisted of domes of hollowed-out pearl. The angel who was with me said: Do you know what this is? This is al-Kawthar which Allah has bestowed upon you. And he struck his hand toward its bottom and brought forth musk from its mud."
Ibn ʿAwf related to me, saying: Ādam related to us, saying: Shaybān related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, on the authority of Anas, who said: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: "When I was carried up to the heaven, I came upon a river whose banks consisted of domes of hollowed-out pearl. I said: What is this, O Jibrīl? He said: This is al-Kawthar which your Lord has given you. When the angel struck his hand into it, he brought forth from it penetrating musk as mud."
Ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: Ibn Abī ʿAdī related to us, on the authority of Ḥumayd, on the authority of Anas ibn Mālik, who said: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: "I entered Paradise, and suddenly I stood at a river whose banks consisted of tents of pearl. I struck my hand toward what flowed through it, and behold: it was penetrating musk. I said: What is this, O Jibrīl? He said: This is al-Kawthar which Allah has given you."
Ibn al-Muthannā related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Ṣamad related to us, saying: Hammām related to us, saying: Qatāda related to us, on the authority of Anas, who said: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said — and he mentioned something like the narration of Yazīd, on the authority of Saʿīd.
Bishr related to us, saying: Aḥmad ibn Abī Surayj related to us, saying: Abū Ayyūb al-ʿAbbās related to us, saying: Ibrāhīm ibn Masʿada related to us, saying: Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn Muslim, the nephew of Ibn Shihāb, related to us, on the authority of his father, on the authority of Anas, who said: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ was asked about al-Kawthar, and he said: "It is a river which Allah gave me in Paradise; its bottom is musk, whiter than milk and sweeter than honey, and there come to it birds to drink whose necks are like the necks of camels." Abū Bakr said: O Messenger of Allah, they are truly thriving! He said: "Whoever eats them is more thriving than they."
Khallād ibn Aslam related to us, saying: Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr ibn ʿAlqama ibn Abī Waqqāṣ al-Laythī informed us, on the authority of Kathīr, on the authority of Anas ibn Mālik, who said: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: "I entered Paradise when I was carried up to the heaven, and al-Kawthar was bestowed upon me. And behold: it is a river in Paradise, whose supporting pillars are hollow-built houses of pearl."
Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿAbd al-Ḥakam related to me, saying: My father and Shuʿayb ibn al-Layth related to us, on the authority of al-Layth, on the authority of Yazīd ibn al-Hād, on the authority of ʿAbd Allāh ibn Muslim ibn Shihāb, on the authority of Anas: that a man came to the Prophet ﷺ and said: O Messenger of Allah, what is al-Kawthar? He said: "A river which Allah gave me in Paradise; it is whiter than milk and sweeter than honey, and in it are birds whose necks are like the necks of camels." ʿUmar said: O Messenger of Allah, they are truly thriving! He said: "Whoever eats them is more thriving than they."
Yūnus related to us, saying: Yaḥyā ibn ʿAbd Allāh related to us, saying: al-Layth related to me, on the authority of Ibn al-Hād, on the authority of ʿAbd al-Wahhāb, on the authority of ʿAbd Allāh ibn Muslim ibn Shihāb, on the authority of Anas, that a man came to the Prophet ﷺ — and he mentioned something like it.
ʿUmar ibn ʿUthmān ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān al-Zuhrī related to us, that his brother ʿAbd Allāh informed him that Anas ibn Mālik, the companion of the Prophet ﷺ, informed him: that a man asked the Prophet ﷺ and said: What is al-Kawthar? The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: "A river which Allah gave me in Paradise; its water is whiter than milk and sweeter than honey, and in it are birds whose necks are like the necks of camels." ʿUmar said: They are truly thriving, O Messenger of Allah! He said: "Whoever eats them is more thriving than they."
ʿUmar ibn ʿUthmān said: Ibn Abī Uways said; and my father related to me, on the authority of the nephew of al-Zuhrī, on the authority of his father, on the authority of Anas, on the authority of the Prophet ﷺ, concerning al-Kawthar — something like it.
Ibn al-Muthannā related to us, saying: Ibn Fuḍayl related to us, saying: ʿAṭāʾ related to us, on the authority of Muḥārib ibn Dithār, on the authority of Ibn ʿUmar, who said: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: "Al-Kawthar is a river in Paradise; its banks are of gold, its bed flows over rubies and pearls, its bottom is more fragrant than musk, its water is sweeter than honey and whiter than snow."
Yaʿqūb related to us, saying: Ibn ʿUlayya related to us, saying: ʿAṭāʾ ibn al-Sāʾib informed us, who said: Muḥārib ibn Dithār said to me: What did Saʿīd ibn Jubayr say about al-Kawthar? I answered: He related to us on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, that he said: It is the abundant good. He said: By Allah, that is the truth, for it is indeed the abundant good. But Ibn ʿUmar related to us that he said: When إِنَّا أَعْطَيْنَاكَ الْكَوْثَرَ was revealed, the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: "Al-Kawthar is a river in Paradise; its banks are of gold and it flows over pearls and rubies."
Ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us, saying: Ibn Thawr related to us, on the authority of Maʿmar, on the authority of Qatāda, on the authority of Anas ibn Mālik, that the Prophet ﷺ said: "Al-Kawthar is a river in Paradise." The Prophet ﷺ said: "I saw a river whose banks consisted of pearl, and I said: O Jibrīl, what is this? He said: This is al-Kawthar which Allah has given you."
Ibn al-Barqī related to us, saying: Ibn Abī Maryam related to us, saying: Muḥammad ibn Jaʿfar ibn Abī Kathīr related to us, saying: Ḥizām ibn ʿUthmān informed us, on the authority of ʿAbd al-Raḥmān al-Aʿraj, on the authority of Usāma ibn Zayd, that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ one day came to Ḥamza ibn ʿAbd al-Muṭṭalib and did not find him. He asked his wife about him — she was of the Banū al-Najjār — and she said: He has just departed, may my father be your ransom, in your direction, but I think he missed you in one of the lanes of the Banū al-Najjār. Will you not come in, O Messenger of Allah? He entered, and she served him a dish of chopped dates with fat and clarified butter, of which he ate. She said: O Messenger of Allah, may it do you good and be blessed. I wished to come to you to congratulate you and bless you — Abū ʿUmāra told me that you have been bestowed a river in Paradise called al-Kawthar. He said: "Indeed, and its breadth — that is, its bottom — is of ruby, coral, emerald and pearl."
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Footnotes:
(6) She means: I say to you — hāniʾaka Allāh wa-amrāʾaka — may Allah bless you with and grant you joy through that which you have been given of al-Kawthar.
