Tafseer of The Beneficent · Ar-Rahmaan · 55:54
[They are] reclining on beds whose linings are of silk brocade, and the fruit of the two gardens is hanging low.
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.
Explanation of the word of the Exalted: مُتَّكِئِينَ عَلَى فُرُشٍ بَطَائِنُهَا مِنْ إِسْتَبْرَقٍ وَجَنَى الْجَنَّتَيْنِ دَانٍ (54) ("Reclining upon couches whose linings are of heavy brocade (istabraq), and the harvest of the two gardens is within reach") (55:54).
The Exalted, whose remembrance is exalted, says: وَلِمَنْ خَافَ مَقَامَ رَبِّهِ جَنَّتَانِ ("And for him who fears the standing before his Lord there are two gardens") (55:46), in which they take their delight, مُتَّكِئِينَ عَلَى فُرُشٍ ("reclining upon couches"). The word "muttakiʾīn" ("reclining") stands in the accusative as a circumstantial qualifier (ḥāl) to the meaning of the preceding clause, because what precedes has the import of an announcement concerning the one who fears the standing before his Lord: that he is in bounty and joy, while they take their delight in the two gardens.
And His word: عَلَى فُرُشٍ بَطَائِنُهَا مِنْ إِسْتَبْرَقٍ وَجَنَى الْجَنَّتَيْنِ ("upon couches whose linings are of istabraq, and the harvest of the two gardens"). The Exalted, whose remembrance is exalted, says: the linings of these couches are of thick brocade. Istabraq, among the Arabs, is: that which is thick and coarse of brocade.
Some of the scholars of Arabic among the people of Baṣra said: cloth which has neither the density of brocade nor the lightness of fine weave is called istabraq.
And in accordance with what we have said concerning this, the people of interpretation (ahl al-taʾwīl) have spoken.
** Mention of who said that:
ʿImrān ibn Mūsā al-Qazzāz related to me, saying: ʿAbd al-Wārith ibn Saʿīd related to us, saying: Yaḥyā ibn Abī Isḥāq related to us, saying: Sālim ibn ʿAbd Allāh said to me: what is istabraq? He said: I answered: that which is thick and coarse of brocade.
Muḥammad ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: Yaḥyā ibn Abī ʿArūba related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, on the authority of ʿIkrima, concerning His word: إِسْتَبْرَق (istabraq), he said: the thick brocade.
And Isḥāq ibn Zayd al-Khaṭṭābī related to us, saying: al-Firyābī related to us, on the authority of Sufyān, on the authority of Abī Isḥāq, on the authority of Hubayra ibn Yarīm, on the authority of Ibn Masʿūd, concerning His word: فُرُشٍ بَطَائِنُهَا مِنْ إِسْتَبْرَقٍ ("couches whose linings are of istabraq"), he said: you have been informed about the linings—then how would it be if you were informed about the upper surfaces?
Al-Rifāʿī related to us, saying: Ibn al-Yamān related to us, on the authority of Sufyān, on the authority of Abī Isḥāq, on the authority of Hubayra, he said: these are the linings—then what do you think of the upper surfaces?
Abū Hishām al-Rifāʿī related to us, saying: Abū Dāwūd related to us, on the authority of Yaʿqūb, on the authority of Djaʿfar, on the authority of Saʿīd, he said: it was said to him: these linings are of istabraq—then what are the upper surfaces? He said: this belongs to that concerning which Allah said: فَلا تَعْلَمُ نَفْسٌ مَا أُخْفِيَ لَهُمْ مِنْ قُرَّةِ أَعْيُنٍ ("No soul knows what comfort of the eyes has been kept hidden for them") (32:17). The grammarians have asserted that the lining (biṭāna) may sometimes be the upper surface (ẓihāra), and the upper surface sometimes the lining, because each of the two may form a visible surface. He said: and the Arabs say: this is the back (ẓahr) of the sky, and this is the belly (baṭn) of the sky, for the visible surface of it which we perceive.
And His word: وَجَنَى الْجَنَّتَيْنِ دَانٍ ("and the harvest of the two gardens is within reach"). He says: and the fruits of the two gardens which are harvested are near to them, for they do not weary themselves with climbing the palms and trees thereof to pluck their fruits, but they pluck them while seated, without effort.
As Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning His word: وَجَنَى الْجَنَّتَيْنِ دَانٍ ("and the harvest of the two gardens is within reach"): their fruits are near, no distance and no thorn holds their hands back from them. It has been related to us that the Prophet of Allah ﷺ said: "By Him in whose hand is my soul, no man shall pluck a fruit of Paradise that reaches his mouth, but Allah will give in its place something better."
Ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us, saying: Ibn Thawr related to us, on the authority of Maʿmar, on the authority of Qatāda: وَجَنَى الْجَنَّتَيْنِ دَانٍ ("and the harvest of the two gardens is within reach"), he said: no distance and no thorn holds his hand back from it.
ʿAlī related to me, saying: Abū Ṣāliḥ related to us, saying: Muʿāwiya related to me, on the authority of ʿAlī, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning His word: وَجَنَى الْجَنَّتَيْنِ دَانٍ ("and the harvest of the two gardens is within reach"), he says: their fruits are near.
