Tafseer of The Mount · At-Tur · 52:24
There will circulate among them [servant] boys [especially] for them, as if they were pearls well-protected.
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 explanation of the saying of the Exalted: وَيَطُوفُ عَلَيْهِمْ غِلْمَانٌ لَهُمْ كَأَنَّهُمْ لُؤْلُؤٌ مَكْنُونٌ "And youths of their own go round among them, as though they were well-guarded pearls" (52:24).
The Exalted, whose praise is sublime, says: And among this people, whose description in Paradise He has set forth, there go round youths of their own, as though they were pearls — in their whiteness and brightness — well-guarded, that is to say: preserved in a covering, so that it is purer for them and their whiteness more pristine. By this is meant that these youths go round among these believers in Paradise with the cups of drink, of which He, whose praise is sublime, has given the description.
Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning His saying: وَيَطُوفُ عَلَيْهِمْ غِلْمَانٌ لَهُمْ كَأَنَّهُمْ لُؤْلُؤٌ مَكْنُونٌ "And youths of their own go round among them, as though they were well-guarded pearls" — It has been transmitted to us that a man said: "O Prophet of Allah, this is the servant; how then is the one who is served?" He said: "By Him in whose hand is the soul of Muḥammad, the excellence of the served one over the servant is like the excellence of the moon on the night of the full moon over the rest of the stars."
Ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us, saying: Ibn Thawr related to us, on the authority of Maʿmar, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning His saying: كَأَنَّهُمْ لُؤْلُؤٌ مَكْنُونٌ "as though they were well-guarded pearls" — he said: It has reached me that it was said: "O Messenger of Allah, this servant is like the pearl; how then is the one who is served?" He said: "By Him in whose hand is my soul, the difference between the two is like the excellence of the moon on the night of the full moon over the stars."
