Tafseer of The Inevitable · Al-Waaqia · 56:89
Then [for him is] rest and bounty and a garden of pleasure.
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 scholars of exegesis differed concerning the interpretation of His word: فَرَوْحٌ وَرَيْحَانٌ (then rest and fragrant favor). Some of them said: its meaning is: then rest and refreshment.
* Mention of who said that:
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: فَرَوْحٌ وَرَيْحَانٌ — he says: rest and refreshment.
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, concerning His word: فَأَمَّا إِنْ كَانَ مِنَ الْمُقَرَّبِينَ * فَرَوْحٌ وَرَيْحَانٌ (and as for him: if he is among those brought near, then there is rest and fragrant favor) — he said: by "rayḥān" is meant the one who has found rest, away from the worldly life; وَجَنَّةُ نَعِيمٍ (and a garden of bliss) — he says: forgiveness and mercy.
Others said: "al-rawḥ" is rest, and "al-rayḥān" is provision (rizq).
* Mention of who said that:
Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr related to me, saying: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us, saying: ʿĪsā related to us; and al-Ḥārith related to me, saying: al-Ḥasan related to us, saying: Warqāʾ related to us — both of them — on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning His word: فَرَوْحٌ وَرَيْحَانٌ, he said: "rawḥ" means rest, and as for "rayḥān" he said: provision.
Others said: "al-rawḥ" is joy, and "al-rayḥān" is provision.
* Mention of who said that:
Abū Kurayb related to us, saying: Idrīs related to us, saying: I heard my father, on the authority of Abū Isḥāq, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn Jubayr, concerning His word: فَرَوْحٌ وَرَيْحَانٌ, he said: "al-rawḥ" is joy, and "al-rayḥān" is provision.
As for those who read it with a ḍamma on the rāʾ ("al-rūḥ"), they said: "al-rūḥ" is the soul of man, and "al-rayḥān" is the well-known fragrant plant (rayḥān). They said: its meaning is that the souls of those brought near depart from their bodies at death by means of a fragrant plant which he smells.
* Mention of who said that:
Ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us, saying: al-Muʿtamir related to us, on the authority of his father, on the authority of al-Ḥasan: فَرَوْحٌ وَرَيْحَانٌ, he said: his soul departs amidst a fragrant plant.
Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Mihrān related to us, on the authority of Abū Jaʿfar, on the authority of al-Rabīʿ, on the authority of Abū al-ʿĀliya: فَأَمَّا إِنْ كَانَ مِنَ الْمُقَرَّبِينَ (and as for him: if he is among those brought near) — he said: none of those brought near departed the worldly life — and those brought near are the foremost — until a branch of the fragrant plant of Paradise was brought to him, which he smelled, after which he passed on.
Others among those who read it with a fatḥa on the rāʾ said: "al-rawḥ" is mercy, and "al-rayḥān" is the well-known fragrant plant.
* Mention of who said that:
Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda: فَرَوْحٌ وَرَيْحَانٌ, he said: "al-rawḥ" is mercy, and "al-rayḥān" is that with which he is welcomed at death.
Others among them said: "al-rawḥ" is mercy, and "al-rayḥān" is refreshment.
* Mention of who said that:
It was related to me on the authority of al-Ḥusayn, he said: I heard Abū Muʿādh say: ʿUbayd related to us, saying: I heard al-Ḍaḥḥāk say: فَرَوْحٌ وَرَيْحَانٌ — "al-rawḥ" is forgiveness and mercy, and "al-rayḥān" is refreshment.
Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Mihrān related to us, on the authority of Sufyān, on the authority of his father, on the authority of Mundhir al-Thawrī, on the authority of al-Rabīʿ ibn Khuthaym: فَأَمَّا إِنْ كَانَ مِنَ الْمُقَرَّبِينَ, he said: this is at death; فَرَوْحٌ وَرَيْحَانٌ, he said: it is brought to him from Paradise.
Ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: Abū ʿĀmir related to us, saying: Qurra related to us, on the authority of al-Ḥasan, concerning His word: فَأَمَّا إِنْ كَانَ مِنَ الْمُقَرَّبِينَ * فَرَوْحٌ وَرَيْحَانٌ وَجَنَّةُ نَعِيمٍ, he said: that is in the Hereafter. Then one of those present said something to him, and he said: but by Allah, they truly see it already at death.
Ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: Ḥammād related to us, saying: Qurra related to us, on the authority of al-Ḥasan, with the same import.
The correct judgment concerning this, in my view, is: the statement of the one who says that by "al-rawḥ" is meant joy, mercy, and forgiveness; its origin lies in their expression "I found rawḥ," when one finds a breeze by which one is refreshed from the oppressiveness of the heat. As for "al-rayḥān," that is, in my view, the fragrant plant with which one is welcomed at death, as Abū al-ʿĀliya and al-Ḥasan said, and whoever said something similar to their statement — because that is the most predominant and clearest of its meanings.
His word: وَجَنَّةُ نَعِيمٍ (and a garden of bliss) — He says: and along with that he has a garden of bliss in which he delights.
Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Ibn Zayd said concerning "a garden of bliss": it has already been shown to him.
