وَأَكوابٌ مَوضوعَةٌ

And goblets set.

EXEGESIS

Goblets set means ready at hand, always within easy reach, and filled with whatever its drinker desires.

Rāzī has given several other possible meanings for set, including being of perfect size, neither too large nor too small, like the goblets of crystal – crystal of silver – (from) which they dispense in a precise measure (76:15-16).^{‎[1]Razi, 31/143.}

EXPOSITION

Just like the couches, these goblets are made of or embedded with precious stones that dazzle and delight the eye. Some have described them as being unblemished crystal chalices like those placed before kings, always fresh and delicious with a taste that gives pleasure beyond what the people of this world could ever imagine or describe.

Also noteworthy is that the mention of goblets in the Quran is usually taken as an allusion to the wine of paradise, which they contain (56:18-19).^{‎[2]Nasr, 88:14.} But ‘wine’ has a special significance to the mystics. As a forbidden drink, it symbolises the drinking of divine love and intoxication with God that is forbidden to those who are attached to anything and anyone besides the divine. Hence, Ibn Arabi describes these goblets as being ‘formed from the qualities of immaterial spirits and their beauty being the vessels that hold the wine of divine love’.^{‎[3]Ibn Arabi, 2/428.}

Given that wine in paradise does not intoxicate the intellect: neither causes them headache nor stupefaction (56:19), and we know of paradise from a previous verse, wherein they will not hear any vain talk (verse 11), we can conclude that the physical pleasures of paradise intermingle with the spiritual pleasure of experiencing the divine. This is why indulgence in paradise never tires nor bores and is always spiritually ecstatic. For those closest to God their pleasure knows no bounds, for this wine is served in His direct presence: Their Lord will give them to drink a pure drink (76:21).

[1] Razi, 31/143.
[2] Nasr, 88:14.
[3] Ibn Arabi, 2/428.