Asad as well as Yusuf Ali and Marmaduke Pickthall translate this verse as: Īnd companions pure, most beautiful of eye, like unto pearls hidden in their shells.
In The Message of The Qur'an, Muhammad Asad asserts that the "noun hur - rendered as 'companions pure' - is a plural of both ahwar (masculine) and hawra' (female), either of which describes a person distinguished by hawar', which latter term primarily denotes 'intense whiteness of the eyeballs and lustrous black of the iris'. Therefore, God's statement, (Verily, We have created them), meaning, in the other life, after they became old in this life, they were brought back while virgin, youthful, being delightfully passionate with their husbands, beautiful, kind and cheerful". " Houri (fair females) with wide lovely eyes, like preserved pearls. : 56:22Īccording to Ibn Kathir, in paradise there will be, The chapter's position in the Quran, which is not determined by the revelation order, is as the 56th chapter, right after Ar-Rahman which discusses partly related topic.ĥ6:22 And (there will be) Houri with wide lovely eyes. The traditional Egyptian chronology puts the chapter as the 41st chapter by the order of revelation (after Al-Tur), while the Nöldeke Chronology (by the orientalist Theodor Nöldeke) puts it as the 46th. Some of such commentators maintain that verses 39–40 are the verses that was from the Medinan period, while some say 81–82, and others say 83. Some commentators, although not in the majority, argue that part of it was revealed during the Medinan period.
They variously identify the foremost with the prophets, the saints, the truthful, the martyrs, the first to accept Islam, and others. Quranic commentators differ on understanding who the foremost is. The "foremost" refers to a special group of people who will have an even better fate than the companions of the right in the afterlife. Here, "the right" is associated with goodness, the righteous will be seated to the right of God's throne and receive their records of deeds in their right hand. The chapter also distinguishes the three classes of people in the afterlife, "the foremost", "the companions of the right" and "the companions of the left": the first two groups will enter paradise while the companions of the left will go to hell. Picking up from the preceding chapter, Ar-Rahman, which discusses the rewards of Paradise ( jannah), this chapter also mentions them and then contrasts them with the punishment of hell. The afterlife ( akhirah) is the main topic discussed in the chapter.