إِنَّ الأَبرارَ يَشرَبونَ مِن كَأسٍ كانَ مِزاجُها كافورًا

Indeed the pious will drink from a cup seasoned with kāfūr.

EXEGESIS

Kaʾs (cup) is a cup that is filled with drink.^{‎[1]Tibyan, 10/208.} The core constituent of the drink itself comes from the spring described in the next verse. It is further enhanced with kāfūr (camphor).^{‎[2]Mizan, 20/124.} While unique to paradise,^{‎[3]Razi, 30/744.} this heavenly kāfūr shares the perfuming and cooling characteristics of camphor.^{‎[4]Lisan, 5/149-150.} Arabs would use kāfūr flavoured drink to relax.^{‎[5]Amthal, 19/267.}

Abrār (the pious) are those who practice birr. Linguistically, birr can be defined as God-wariness, dutifulness, honesty, truthfulness, virtue, goodness, and uprightness.^{‎[6]Lisan, 4/51-52.} Verse 2:177 encapsulates birr in the qualities of truthfulness and God-wariness. On another occasion, the Quran explains that one can never attain birr until they spend out of what they hold dear (3:92).

Birr comes from the root barara which in essence expresses ampleness and extensiveness. Applied to virtue, birr means ample goodness or extensive beneficence.^{‎[7]Raghib, p. 114.} Applied to geography, barr refers to land due to its vastness. Hence, the abrār are righteous individuals whose deeds often have widespread impact on society.^{‎[8]Amthal, 19/255.} Verse 8 supports this aspect when it lists the different factions of society which the abrār had impacted.^{‎[9]Amthal, 19/257.}

EXPOSITION

As stated earlier, in essence, the abrār can be concisely described as those who practice birr. The Quran directly defines birr in two passages. In one verse it states: You will never attain birr until you spend out of what you hold dear (3:92). In another verse it details that birr is [personified by] those who have faith in Allah and the Last Day, the angels, the book, and the prophets, and who give their wealth, for the love of Him, to relatives, orphans, the needy, the traveller, and the beggar, and for [the freeing of] the slaves, and maintain the prayer and give the zakat, and those who fulfill their covenants, when they pledge themselves, and those who are patient in stress and distress, and in the heat of battle. They are the ones who are true [to their covenant], and it is they who are the God-wary (2:177). For more discussion on the definition of birr and abrār, reference can be made to the exegesis of verses 2:177 and 83:18.^{‎[10] Mizan, 1/428.}

In the forthcoming verses there is emphasis on specific actions, namely the fulfilling of the nadhr and the feeding of the needy, the orphan, and the prisoner of war despite being under the pangs of hunger. These are a subset of the actions that holistically defined birr in the above verses. This particularisation suggests that the role of verses 5-10 is to eternalise the true story of exceptional abrār that put the principle of birr into model action.

The abrār, the verses describe, perform acts of genuine goodness for the sake of God alone, even at the cost of great hardship and affliction. They are resolved to honour their vows and spend their sustenance to nourish those in need. Their actions are born from a solid faith in God, His Messenger, and the Last Day: the essential constituents for actions to have spiritual weight in the hereafter (33:19).^{‎[11] Mizan, 20/124.}

REVIEW OF TAFSĪR LITERATURE

A number of exegetes have stated that kāfūr in verse 5 may be the name of the spring described in verse 6.^{‎[12] Zamakhshari, 4/667; Tabrisi, 10/611; Tabari, 29/128.}

[1] Tibyan, 10/208.
[2] Mizan, 20/124.
[3] Razi, 30/744.
[4] Lisan, 5/149-150.
[5] Amthal, 19/267.
[6] Lisan, 4/51-52.
[7] Raghib, p. 114.
[8] Amthal, 19/255.
[9] Amthal, 19/257.
[10] Mizan, 1/428.
[11] Mizan, 20/124.
[12] Zamakhshari, 4/667; Tabrisi, 10/611; Tabari, 29/128.