Tafseer of The Inevitable · Al-Waaqia · 56:24
As reward for what they used to do.
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: جَزَاءً بِمَا كَانُوا يَعْمَلُونَ ("As a reward for what they used to do"). He, exalted is His mention, says: as a reward for them from Allah for their works which they used to perform in the worldly life, and as a recompense for their obedience to Him.
And in accordance with what we have said concerning this, the people of interpretation (ahl al-taʾwīl) have spoken.
* Mention of who said that:
Abū Hishām al-Rifāʿī related to us, saying: Ibn Yamān related to us, on the authority of Ibn ʿUyayna, on the authority of ʿAmr, on the authority of al-Ḥasan: وَحُورٌ عِينٌ ("And wide-eyed, fair ones (ḥūr ʿīn)"), he said: intensely black as to the black of the eye, intensely white as to the white of the eye.
He said: Ibn Yamān related to us, on the authority of Sufyān, on the authority of a man, on the authority of al-Ḍaḥḥāk: وَحُورٌ عِينٌ , he said: white of eye, he said: with large eyes.
Ibn ʿAbbās al-Dūrī related to us, saying: Ḥajjāj related to us, saying: Ibn Jurayj said, on the authority of ʿAṭāʾ al-Khurāsānī, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, he said: al-ḥūr are the blacks of the pupil.
Al-Ḥasan ibn ʿArafa related to us, saying: Ibrāhīm ibn Muḥammad al-Aslamī related to us, on the authority of ʿAbbād ibn Manṣūr al-Bājī, that he heard al-Ḥasan al-Baṣrī say: al-ḥūr are the righteous women among the children of Adam.
He said: Ibrāhīm ibn Muḥammad related to us, on the authority of Layth ibn Abī Sulaym, he said: it has reached me that the ḥūr ʿīn were created from saffron.
Al-Ḥasan ibn Yazīd al-Ṭaḥḥān related to us, saying: ʿĀʾisha, the wife of Layth, related to us, on the authority of Layth, on the authority of Mujāhid, he said: the ḥūr ʿīn were created from saffron.
Muḥammad ibn ʿUbayd al-Muḥāribī related to me, saying: ʿAmr ibn Saʿd related to us, saying: I heard Layth, he related to me on the authority of Mujāhid, he said: the ḥūr ʿīn were created from saffron.
And others said: rather, the meaning of His word حُورٌ is that the gaze becomes bewildered before her (yaḥāru fīhinna l-ṭarf).
* Mention of who said that:
Abū Hishām related to us, saying: Ibn Yamān related to us, on the authority of Sufyān, on the authority of a man, on the authority of Mujāhid: وَحُورٌ عِينٌ , he said: the gaze becomes bewildered before her.
And in accordance with what we have said in the interpretation of His word كَأَمْثَالِ اللُّؤْلُؤِ ("Like the likenesses of pearls") the people of interpretation have spoken, and a tradition has come concerning it from the Messenger of Allah ﷺ.
Aḥmad ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān related to us, saying: Aḥmad ibn al-Faraj al-Ṣadafī al-Dimyāṭī related to us, on the authority of ʿAmr ibn Hāshim, on the authority of Ibn Abī Karīma, on the authority of Hishām ibn Ḥassān, on the authority of al-Ḥasan, on the authority of his mother, on the authority of Umm Salama, she said: I said: O Messenger of Allah, inform me about the word of Allah كَأَمْثَالِ اللُّؤْلُؤِ الْمَكْنُونِ ("Like the likenesses of well-guarded pearls"). He said: "Their clearness is like the clearness of the pearl that is within the shells, which no hands have touched."
