وَفاكِهَةٍ مِمّا يَتَخَيَّرونَ

And such fruits as they prefer.

EXEGESIS

Yatakhayyarūna: to choose, select and prefer – here in an emphasised and exaggerated form of the verb. It involves an element of choice and free will, as well as selection from multiple alternatives.^{‎[1]Tahqiq, under kh-y-r.} Likewise, yashtahūna means to desire, crave, and yearn for something.^{‎[2]Lisan, under sh-h-a.}

REVIEW OF TAFSĪR LITERATURE

They prefer the fruits while they desire the fowls (in verse 21). The verb that is used for the former is yatakhayyarūna (from ikhtiyār), meaning to choose and select, while the verb that is used for the latter is yashtahūna (from ishtihāʾ), meaning to crave and have an appetite for something. Based on this, it has been suggested that the close ones indulge in fruits when they are full, while they desire the fowls when they are hungry and have a craving for food.^{‎[3]Furqan, 28/69.} Though there might be some literary support for this interpretation, it dismisses the fact that there will be no hunger or any kind of hardship in paradise (15:48, 35:35, 39:61, 20:118). However, maybe the expression is based on the language and condition of the inhabitants of this world so that they may better understand and relate to it.^{‎[4]Razi, 29/396.}

This might also be a reason for why fruit is mentioned before meat: to indicate that the main state and condition of those in paradise is that of having fruits, which is a state of satiation, as opposed to a state of desiring meat, which is a state of hunger. In other words, the precedence of fruits to fowls would clarify that their desire for fowls is not out of hunger.^{‎[5]Razi, 29/396; Alusi, 14/137.}

[1] Tahqiq, under kh-y-r.
[2] Lisan, under sh-h-a.
[3] Furqan, 28/69.
[4] Razi, 29/396.
[5] Razi, 29/396; Alusi, 14/137.