Tafseer of The Beneficent · Ar-Rahmaan · 55:53
So which of the favors of your Lord would you deny?
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.
Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Mihrān related to us, on the authority of Sufyān, on the authority of a man from the people of Basra, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning ذَوَاتَا أَفْنَانٍ (two gardens with branches), he said: two gardens with branches (aghṣān).
Others said: its meaning is: two gardens with the tips of the branches of the trees.
* Mention of who said that:
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, his statement: ذَوَاتَا أَفْنَانٍ (two gardens with branches), he says: in what lies between the tips of their trees, that is to say: the one touches the other like the [plants] trained on trellises, and it is said: two gardens that have abundance of everything.
Others said: no, by it are meant their excellence and their spaciousness above everything else.
* Mention of who said that:
Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, his statement: ذَوَاتَا أَفْنَانٍ (two gardens with branches), that means: their excellence and their spaciousness above everything else.
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 statement: ذَوَاتَا أَفْنَانٍ (two gardens with branches), he said: two gardens that have excellence above everything else.
And His statement: فَبِأَيِّ آلاءِ رَبِّكُمَا تُكَذِّبَانِ (so which of the favors of your Lord do you both then deny?). The Exalted, whose mention is exalted, says: which of the favors of your Lord — O assembly of the two weighty kinds (mankind and the jinn) — which He has bestowed upon you by rewarding the people of His obedience with this reward — do you both then deny?
The statement concerning the explanation of the statement of the Exalted: ﴿فِيهِمَا عَيْنَانِ تَجْرِيَانِ (٥٠) فَبِأَيِّ آلاءِ رَبِّكُمَا تُكَذِّبَانِ (٥١) فِيهِمَا مِنْ كُلِّ فَاكِهَةٍ زَوْجَانِ (٥٢) فَبِأَيِّ آلاءِ رَبِّكُمَا تُكَذِّبَانِ (٥٣)﴾ (In both are two springs that flow (50). So which of the favors of your Lord do you both then deny? (51). In both is of every fruit a pair (52). So which of the favors of your Lord do you both then deny? (53)).
The Exalted, whose mention is exalted, says: in these two gardens are two springs of water that flow through them, which of the favors of your Lord do you both then deny?
And His statement: فِيهِمَا مِنْ كُلِّ فَاكِهَةٍ زَوْجَانِ (in both is of every fruit a pair). The Exalted, whose mention is exalted, says: in both is of
