Another group said that the pronoun refers to the beds mentioned in His words, “Reclining on beds whose linings are of silk brocade.” Here, fī (“in”) means “on.”

Concerning the words of the Most High, “Whom neither man nor jinn has touched before them,” Abū ‘Ubaydah said: “It means that none has touched them. One says, ‘No rope has ever tamatha this camel,’ meaning that no rope has touched it.”

Yūnus said: “The Arabs say, ‘This is a camel that no rope has ever tamatha,’ meaning that no rope has touched it.”

Al-Farrā’ said: “Tamth means defloration: intercourse that causes bleeding. Tamth also means blood. There are variant conjugations: tamatha, with the present tense yatmithu or yatmuthu.”

Al-Layth said: “You say tamathtu al-jāriyah when you have deflowered a girl. In their usage, a tā mith is a menstruating woman.” Abū al-Haytham said: “Of a woman, one says tumithat, tutmathu when she is made to bleed through defloration. Tamithat—following the pattern fa‘ilat—with the present tense tatmathu, means that she has menstruated for the first time; she is then called a tā mith.” Concerning al-Farazdaq’s words:

“They came out to me, untouched before me,
More unblemished than ostrich eggs,”

he said: “It means that they had not been touched.”

The Quran commentators explained it as: “None has lain with them,” “None has approached them sexually,” and “None has had intercourse with them.” These are their expressions. They disagree, however, about who these women are. Some say that they are the maidens created in Paradise, among its fair, wide-eyed companions. Others say that it means the women of this world, recreated as virgins, as described.

Al-Sha‘bī said: “They are women of this world who have remained untouched since being created anew.” Muqātil said: “Because they were created in Paradise.” ‘Atā’ reported from Ibn ‘Abbās: “They are the human women who died as virgins.” Al-Kalbī said: “Neither man nor jinn has had intercourse with them in this new form in which they have been created.”

I say: The apparent meaning of the Quran is that these women are not the women of this world, but rather the fair, wide-eyed maidens of Paradise. As for the women of this world, human women have been touched by men, and female jinn have been touched by male jinn. The verse indicates this.