اِلَّا Except عِبَادَ (the) slaves اللّٰهِ (of) Allah الْمُخْلَصِیْنَ the chosen ones اُولٰٓىِٕكَ Those لَهُمْ for them رِزْقٌ (will be) a provision مَّعْلُوْمٌۙ determined فَوَاكِهُ ۚ Fruits وَ هُمْ and they مُّكْرَمُوْنَۙ (will) be honored فِیْ In جَنّٰتِ Gardens النَّعِیْمِۙ (of) Delight عَلٰی On سُرُرٍ thrones مُّتَقٰبِلِیْنَ facing each other یُطَافُ Will be circulated عَلَیْهِمْ among them بِكَاْسٍ a cup مِّنْ from مَّعِیْنٍۭۙ a flowing spring بَیْضَآءَ White لَذَّةٍ delicious لِّلشّٰرِبِیْنَۚۖ for the drinkers لَا Not فِیْهَا in it غَوْلٌ (is) bad effect وَّ لَا and not هُمْ they عَنْهَا from it یُنْزَفُوْنَ will be intoxicated وَ عِنْدَهُمْ And with them قٰصِرٰتُ (will be) companions of modest gaze الطَّرْفِ (will be) companions of modest gaze عِیْنٌۙ (having) beautiful eyes كَاَنَّهُنَّ As if they were بَیْضٌ eggs مَّكْنُوْنٌ well protected
(37:40) But Allah's chosen servants (shall be spared this woeful end).
(37:41) For them awaits a known provision,22
(37:42) a variety of delicious fruits; and they shall be honoured23
(37:43) in the Gardens of Bliss.
(37:44) They will be seated upon couches set face to face;
(37:45) a cup filled with wine24 from its springs,25 will be passed around to them;26
(37:46) white, sparkling (wine), a delight to the drinkers.
(37:47) There will neither be any harm in it for their body nor will it intoxicate their mind.27
(37:48) Theirs shall be wide-eyed maidens28 with bashful, restrained glances,29
(37:49) so delicate as the hidden peel under an egg's shell.30
22. “For them awaits a known provision”, one whose qualities have already been described. This provision they feel fully assured of receiving, and receiving continually.
23. Implicit in this is the subtle hint that food in Paradise will be for enjoyment rather than for nutrition. Food there will not be the fuel for the body because man will not experience hunger. Nor will man be in need of food for survival. This explains why the word fawakih (fruits) is mentioned in connection with the food of Paradise, which carries the dominant nuance of enjoyment rather than simply of nutrition.
24. The verse does not make a specific mention of wine. It is, however, implied by the use of the word ka’s. This word is used. only for the cup that contains an intoxicating drink. This word is never used if the cup contains milk or water, or even if it is empty.
25. It will be unlike the wine that is produced in the world from fruit and grain by means of fermentation. Rather, it will flow naturally in the form of springs and lakes. This point is elaborated in the following words in the Qur’an elsewhere: “In Paradise there shall be rivers of wine, of delight to those that drink”, (Muhammad 47:45).
26. It is not specified as to who will circulate the goblets of wine among the inmates of Paradise. This point is elaborated in the following verses: Youths as fair as hidden pearls will be set apart to wait upon them; they will be running to and fro to serve them, (al-Tur 52:24).
There boys of everlasting youth shall go about attending them: when you see them, you would think that they are scattered pearls, (al-Dahr 76:19).
The preceding point has been amplified in the ahadith narrated by Anas ibn Malik and Samurah ibn Jundub. According to these traditions, the children of polytheists will serve as page boys for the inmates of Paradise (Abu Da’ud, al-Tayalisi, Tabarani and Bazzar). These reports are weak in terms of their chains of narrators. It is, nonetheless, evident from other ahadith that young children will be admitted to Paradise. We also learn from ahadith that righteous parents will enjoy the company of their children in Paradise. This leaves out only those parents who will not enter Paradise. It is, therefore, logical that their children will serve as page boys in Paradise. (For a detailed discussion: see Ibn Hajar al- ‘Asqalani, Fath al-Bari, Kitab al-Jana’iz, Bab ma Qila fi Awlad al-Mushrikin; Badr al-Din al-’Ayni, ‘Umdat al-Qari, Kitab al-Jana’iz, Bab ma Qila fi Awlad al-Mushrikin. See also the author's work in Urdu, Rasā'īl wa Masă' il, Vol. 3, pp. 177-187.)
27. This wine will be free from both the defects that usually mar wine in the world. These defects are: its stench which is unbearable; its bad taste also offends, and the fact that it hurts both the stomach and the brain. Then it soars upwards to the brain and causes severe headaches.
It also adversely affects the liver and ruins one's health as such. Another big disadvantage of drinking is that it causes intoxication followed by a hangover. One loses self-control and acts in a foolish manner. One drinks wine only for the sake of transient pleasure, exposing oneself to all these harms. God makes it clear that while wine in Paradise "will be a delight to the drinkers", it will be altogether free of the kind of defects mentioned above.
28. That is, their glances will be restricted to their spouses.
29. It is likely that these may be the girls who died before reaching the age of discretion and whose parents do not deserve to enter Paradise.
This is analogous to the case of the young boys whose parents are not admitted to Paradise, and who will serve as page boys there, (see n. 26 above). Likewise, such girls will serve as houries. Their state of youth will endure. And God knows best.
30. Literally, this stands for hidden or preserved eggs. Scholars of tafsir, however, have interpreted it variously. The true interpretation of it is evidently that narrated by Umm Salamah from the Prophet (peace be on him). When she requested him to define it, he replied: "They will be as soft and tender as the fine covering inside the eggshell", (Țabarī, Tafsīr, comments on verse 49).