هُم وَأَزواجُهُم في ظِلالٍ عَلَى الأَرائِكِ مُتَّكِئونَ
They and their mates, reclining on couches in the shades.
EXEGESIS
Azwāj (sing. zawj) is translated here as mates. However, zawj has two meanings. One meaning is spouse and the other meaning is type. Both meanings have been used in the Quran. For example, in and We shall wed them (zawwajnāhum) to black-eyed houris (44:54) it is used in the first meaning, and in Muster the wrongdoers and their types (azwājahum) and what they used to worship besides Allah, and show them the way to hell! (37:22-23) zawj is used in the second meaning. Both meanings are possible in this verse although the majority of the exegetes have interpreted it as mates.
The shades may refer to the shades of the trees in paradise amidst which the raised couches are erected. Or it may refer to the shades of the canopies set for them in the garden of their palaces under which the tables are set.
Arāʾik (sing. arīkah) usually refers to decorated couches. It is used to indicate the luxury in which the people of paradise live. The word is also used for a bed, or a thing spread upon the ground to sit, lie, or recline on, which is ornamentally furnished and decorated. It has been mentioned by a group of exegetes that the couches in this verse is a type of bed generally kept in the bridal chamber.
EXPOSITION
Reflecting on different verses of the Quran which describe life in paradise, one would clearly feel that sense of luxury that the Quran wants to relate to us. The food, the cutlery, the clothing, the ornaments, the couches, the palaces, the colours, and the material all imbue that sense of luxury: They will be served around with vessels of silver and goblets of crystal. Crystal of silver from which they dispense in a precise measure. They will be served therein with a cup of a drink seasoned with Zanjabīl, a spring in it, named Salsabīl. They will be waited upon by immortal youths, whom, when you see them, you will suppose them to be scattered pearls. As you look, you will see there bliss and a great kingdom. Upon them will be cloaks of green silk and brocade, and they will be adorned with bracelets of silver. Their Lord will give them to drink a pure drink (76:15-21).
INSIGHTS FROM HADITH
- A person asked Imam al-Ṣādiq (a) that if a believer had a believer spouse and they both entered paradise, would they be able to be mates there? The Imam said: ‘Surely God is a fair judge, if he was better than her, he will be given an option to choose; so if he chooses her, she will be among his mates; and if she was better than him, God will give her an option to choose; so if she chooses him, then he will be her mate.’
- Imam al-Ṣādiq (a) said: ‘In them are maidens good and lovely [55:70] are from the women of this world [in paradise], they would be more beautiful than the houris [of paradise].’ In another narration, he said: ‘They are righteous, of the knowledgeable believing women who have the recognition [of God].’
- Imam al-Ṣādiq (a) said: ‘If a person says after his prayer: “O God … make the houris my mates,” … The houris will say: “O Lord, your servant has proposed for us from You, then let us be his mates.”’
REVIEW OF TAFSĪR LITERATURE
Rāzī mentions that the word azwāj has two probable meanings: one is the like of them in beauty and similar in faith. The other meaning is spouses, as indicated by various Quranic verses, which is also the meaning intended in this verse. Regarding the shade, he considers it to protect a person from the pain that could arise from the sun, the rain, or any harmful cause that shade can prevent.
INSIGHTS FROM OTHER TRADITIONS
- Some of the Sadducees, who say there is no resurrection, came to Jesus with a question. “Teacher,” they said, “Moses wrote for us that if a man’s brother dies and leaves a wife but no children, the man must marry the widow and raise up offspring for his brother. Now, there were seven brothers. The first one married a woman and died childless. The second and then the third married her, and in the same way, the seven died, leaving no children. Finally, the woman died too. Now then, at the resurrection, whose wife will she be, since the seven were married to her?” Jesus replied, “The people of this age marry and are given in marriage. But those who are considered worthy of taking part in the age to come and in the resurrection from the dead will neither marry nor be given in marriage, and they can no longer die; for they are like the angels.
Note: There is no clear text in the Bible indicating that the righteous people would have a spouse in paradise because they would be like angels, as the text indicates.
[1] Amthal, 14/176-177.
[2] Bihar, 8/105.
[3] Nur, 5/201.
[4] Wasail, 4/1040.
[5] Razi, 26/92.
[6] Whose Wife Will She Be at the Resurrection? Matthew, 22:23-33, Mark, 12:18-27, and Luke, 20:27-40. < https://jaymack.net/ja-whose-wife-will-she-be-at-the-resurrection-matthew-2223-33-mark-1218-27-luke-2027-40/ >.
[7] Luke 20:34-36.
[8] Whose Wife Will She Be at the Resurrection? Matthew, 22:23-33, Mark, 12:18-27, and Luke, 20:27-40. < https://jaymack.net/ja-whose-wife-will-she-be-at-the-resurrection-matthew-2223-33-mark-1218-27-luke-2027-40/ >.