[Surah al-Rahmān (55): verse 70]
“In them are good and beautiful women.” (70)
Khayrāt (“good women”) is the plural of khayrah, a lightened form of khayyirah, which follows the same pattern as sayyidah (“lady”) and layyinah (“gentle”). Hisān (“beautiful women”) is the plural of hasanah. Thus, they are good in their qualities, character, and disposition, and beautiful in appearance. Wakī‘ said: Sufyān narrated to us, from Jābir, from al-Qāsim, from Abū Barzah, from Abū ‘Ubaydah, from Masrūq, from ‘Abd Allāh, who said: “Every Muslim will have a good woman, and every such woman will have a tent. Each tent will have four doors, and every day, through each door, she will receive a new treasure, gift, and honor unlike anything before it. These women are neither sorrowful nor malodorous, neither foul-breathed nor roving-eyed.”
[Surah al-Rahmān (55): verse 72]
“Fair, wide-eyed maidens, secluded in tents.” (72)
‘Secluded’ means kept confined. Abū ‘Ubaydah said: “They are sheltered in seclusion within the tents.” Muqātil likewise said: “Within the tents.”
There is another possible meaning: they are reserved exclusively for their husbands and see no one else, while they are in the tents. This is what is meant by those who say: “They are reserved exclusively for their husbands, seeing no others and casting no longing glances toward anyone else.” Al-Farrā’ mentioned this interpretation.
I say: This is the meaning of “restraining their gaze.” But the former restrain themselves, whereas the latter are kept secluded. According to this interpretation, “in tents” describes the fair, wide-eyed maidens—that is, they are in the tents—and is not grammatically dependent on “secluded.” It is as though the proponents of this interpretation understood the expression to mean that they are confined within the tents, never leaving them for the chambers and gardens.
Those who hold the first interpretation answer this by saying that Allah, glorified be He, describes them with the qualities of sheltered, protected women, which is a more beautiful description. This does not necessarily mean that they never leave the tents for the chambers and gardens, just as the wives of kings