As-Saffat · Makki · ayah 50 of 182

As-Saffat 37:50

فَأَقْبَلَ بَعْضُهُمْ عَلَىٰ بَعْضٍ يَتَسَآءَلُونَ

“And they will approach one another, inquiring of each other.”

Saheeh International

Essence

After the fruit, the couches, the cup and the companions, the Garden's last pleasure in this list is the oldest one: friends turning to talk.

A reflection

The same sentence, twenty-three ayat later

This sentence has already been heard once in this surah. At 37:27, the people led into the Fire turn to one another and ask, and what follows is blame between leaders and followers. Here the identical words return for the people of the Garden. The fuller treatment of the phrase belongs to that first appearance, and to its third, in At-Ṭūr (52:25).

What is new here is where it leads. In At-Ṭūr the questioning opens onto a shared memory of fear among family. Here it opens onto one man's story: a friend he once had, who nearly ruined him (37:51-57).

One commentary notices a small grammatical choice. The verb before this one describes the cup being passed round, in the present tense. This verb is in the past tense. The commentator reads the shift as emphasis. Of course they turn to talk, he says. It is the greatest of the pleasures they share, and the past tense marks it as already certain.

The full entry has 2 more reflections, questions to sit with, and "Live it today" - with the words, the roots and the tafsir alongside. Free, no account, works offline.