Tafseer of Man · Al-Insaan · 76:17
And they will be given to drink a cup [of wine] whose mixture is of ginger
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.
Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning His statement: وَيُسْقَوْنَ فِيهَا كَأْسًا كَانَ مِزَاجُهَا زَنْجَبِيلا عَيْنًا فِيهَا تُسَمَّى سَلْسَبِيلا ("And they will be given there a cup to drink whose mixture is ginger — a spring therein named Salsabīl"): a refined [drink] which those brought near (al-muqarrabūn) drink pure, and which is mixed for the rest of the inhabitants of Paradise. And His statement: عَيْنًا فِيهَا تُسَمَّى سَلْسَبِيلا ("a spring therein named Salsabīl"), the Exalted, whose praise is exalted, says: a spring in Paradise named Salsabīl. It has been said: by His statement "Salsabīl" is meant that its water is smoothly flowing (salisa) and compliant.
* Mention of who said that:
Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning His statement: عَيْنًا فِيهَا تُسَمَّى سَلْسَبِيلا ("a spring therein named Salsabīl"): a spring whose water is smooth and compliant.
Ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us, saying: Ibn Thawr related to us, on the authority of Maʿmar, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning تُسَمَّى سَلْسَبِيلا ("named Salsabīl"), he said: smooth; they lead it wherever they wish.
And others said: by this is meant that it has a strong current.
* Mention of who said that:
Ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Raḥmān related to us, saying: Sufyān related to us, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning عَيْنًا فِيهَا تُسَمَّى سَلْسَبِيلا ("a spring therein named Salsabīl"), he said: swift in current.
Abū Kurayb related to us, saying: al-Ashjaʿī related to us, on the authority of Sufyān, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, the same.
He said: Abū Usāma related to us, on the authority of Shibl, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, he said: smooth in current.
Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Mihrān related to us, on the authority of Sufyān, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning عَيْنًا فِيهَا تُسَمَّى سَلْسَبِيلا ("a spring therein named Salsabīl"): swift in current.
Abū Kurayb related to us, saying: Wakīʿ related to us, on the authority of Sufyān, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, the same.
The linguists of Arabic differed concerning the meaning of "Salsabīl" and concerning its grammatical analysis. Some of the grammarians of Basra said — some of them said: "Salsabīl" is an attribute of the spring, derived from continuous flowing (al-tasalsul). And others said: only a spring named "Salsabīl" is meant, that is to say: it is named "the Salsabīl" on account of its excellence, that is to say: it is thus described to the people, as you say: al-aʿwajī, al-arḥabī, and al-mahrī of the camels, and as horses, when they are described, are attributed to the well-known, attributed horses — thus the spring is attributed to the fact that it is thus named, for the Qurʾān was sent down according to the language of the Arabs. He said: and Yūnus recited to me:
Yellow from a nabʿ-bow, whose arrow one names / on account of the long time the striking [arrow] felled the game (7)
— he raised "al-ṣayyib" (the striking one) [in the nominative], because he did not mean that it [the bow] was named "al-ṣayyib"; rather, "al-ṣayyib" is a description of the name and the arrow, and his statement "one names its arrow" means: one mentions its arrow. He said: and some of them said: no, rather it is the name of the spring and it is a proper name (maʿrifa), but because it stood at the end of a verse and ended in fatḥa, an alif was added to it, as He said: كَانت قَوارِيرا ("they were [like] crystal"). And some of the grammarians of Kufa said: "as-Salsabīl" is an attribute (naʿt) by which was meant "smooth in the throat"; therefore it is fitting that it be named [thus] on account of its smoothness.
And another of them said: they mentioned that "as-Salsabīl" is the name of the spring, and they mentioned that it is an attribute of the water on account of its smoothness and sweetness. He said: and we hold that if it were a name for the spring, it would have been better to leave it indeclinable (ghayr munṣarif) [in inflection]; but we have not seen anyone who refrained from declining it, and that is permissible in Arabic, for the Arabs decline in poetry words that are [normally] not declined — as Mutammim ibn Nuwayra said:
And the grief of three mourning foster-mares is not [so great] / which beheld the falling and perishing of a young camel-foal (8)
— he declined "rawāʾim," which is among the words that are [normally] not declined.
And the correct judgment concerning this, in my view, is that His statement تُسَمَّى سَلْسَبِيلا ("named Salsabīl") is an attribute of the spring, which is described with smoothness in the throat and during flowing, and with its compliance toward the inhabitants of Paradise, who lead it wherever they wish — as Mujāhid and Qatāda said. And by His statement تُسَمَّى ("it is named") is meant only: it is [thus] described.
And I said that this is the most correct on account of the consensus of the interpreters of Scripture that His statement سَلْسَبِيلا ("Salsabīl") is an attribute and not a [proper] name.
