This interpretation is supported by the hadith of Anas traced back to the Prophet: “They are your elderly women with dim, rheumy eyes.” Al-Thawrī narrated it from Mūsā ibn ʿUbaydah, from Yazīd al-Raqāshī, from Anas.
It is also supported by the report narrated by Yahyā al-Himmānī: Ibn Idrīs narrated to us, from Layth, from Mujāhid, from ʿĀ’ishah:
“The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, came in while an elderly woman was with her. He asked, ‘Who is this?’ She replied, ‘One of my maternal aunts.’ He said, ‘No elderly woman will enter Paradise.’ This caused the elderly woman such distress as Allah willed. The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, then said, ‘We have created them anew, in a different form. People will be gathered on the Day of Resurrection barefoot, naked and uncircumcised, and the first to be clothed will be Abraham, Allah’s close friend.’ Then the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, recited: ‘Indeed, We have created them anew.’”
Ādam ibn Abī Iyās said: Shaybān narrated to us, from al-Zuhrī, from Jābir al-Juʿfī, from Yazīd ibn Murrah, from Salamah ibn Yazīd, who said: I heard the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, say concerning His words, “Indeed, We have created them anew”: “This means the previously married women and the virgins who lived in this world.”
Ādam said: Al-Mubārak ibn Fadālah also narrated to us, from al-Hasan, who said: The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said, “Elderly women will not enter Paradise.” An elderly woman began to weep, so the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said: “Tell her that she will not be elderly that day; she will be young. Allah, Mighty and Majestic, says: ‘Indeed, We have created them anew.’”
Ibn Abī Shaybah said: Ahmad ibn Tāriq narrated to us: Masʿadah ibn al-Yasaʿ narrated to us: Saʿīd ibn Abī ʿArūbah narrated to us, from Qatādah, from Saʿīd ibn al-Musayyab, from ʿĀ’ishah:
“An elderly woman of the Ansār came to the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, and said, ‘O Messenger of Allah, pray to Allah to admit me to Paradise.’ The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, replied, ‘No elderly woman will enter Paradise.’ Allah’s Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, then went away and prayed. When he returned to ʿĀ’ishah, she said, ‘Your words caused her great hardship and distress.’ He said, peace and blessings be upon him, ‘That is indeed so. When Allah Most High admits them to Paradise, He will make them virgins.’”
Muqātil mentioned another interpretation, which al-Zajjāj preferred: they are the wide-eyed maidens mentioned earlier, whom Allah, Mighty and Majestic, created for His close servants without their having been born.