Tafseer of The Inevitable · Al-Waaqia · 56:16
Reclining on them, facing each other.
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.
And His word: مُتَّكِئِينَ عَلَيْهَا مُتَقَابِلِينَ ("Reclining thereon, facing one another"). The Exalted, whose mention is exalted, says: reclining upon the woven couches, with their faces turned toward one another, so that no one of them looks at the back of the head of another.
As Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, he said: Mihrān related to us, on the authority of Sufyān, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning His word: عَلَى سُرُرٍ مُتَقَابِلِينَ , he said: none of them looks at the back of the head of his companion. And it has been mentioned that this, in the reading of ʿAbd Allāh (Ibn Masʿūd), reads: مُتَّكِئِينَ عَلَيْها ناعِمِينَ ("reclining thereon, living in ease").
Muḥammad ibn al-Muthannā related to us, he said: Muḥammad ibn Jaʿfar related to us, on the authority of Shuʿba, on the authority of Abū Isḥāq, concerning the reading of ʿAbd Allāh, that is, Ibn Masʿūd: مُتَّكِئِينَ عَلَيْها ناعِمِينَ .
And we have already expounded that in a place other than this, and we have mentioned what exists concerning it in the way of transmitted reports.
