At-Tur · Makki · ayah 23 of 49

At-Tur 52:23

يَتَنَـٰزَعُونَ فِيهَا كَأْسًا لَّا لَغْوٌ فِيهَا وَلَا تَأْثِيمٌ

“They will exchange with one another a cup [of wine] wherein [results] no ill speech or commission of sin.”

Saheeh International

Essence

In the Garden the word for quarrelling becomes the word for sharing: a full cup passed hand to hand, with no empty talk and nothing that drags anyone down.

A reflection

A cup that is never empty

In an old tea house, the waiter walks the room with a pot. Whenever a glass on any table drops below halfway, he tops it up without being asked. Regulars say they have never once seen an empty glass there. Conversation goes on for hours, because nobody ever has to stop and wonder whether to order more.

The Arabs had a precise word for that kind of glass. A kaʾs is a drinking cup, but only while it holds drink. Empty, the lexicons say, it was called something else: a qadaḥ. So the word itself names the cup and its contents together. One commentary adds that it was not called kaʾs unless it was full or nearly full. That picture is established.

So when the ayah says the people of the Garden pass a kaʾs between them, the word already carries a promise. There are no empty cups in this gathering. Nobody reaches for a cup and finds it dry. The vessel and its fullness come as one.

There is a quiet contrast with this world. Here, every cup empties. Every holiday ends, every meal is finished, every visit has a moment when someone looks at the clock. Even the best gatherings carry the knowledge that the cup is going down.

The poets of the Arabs also spoke of the kaʾs of death, the cup every person must taste. In the Garden that cup has been drunk and left behind. What remains is a cup that does not empty.

Today, when you drink something good, a cup of tea or a glass of cold water, notice its fullness before it goes. Say al-ḥamdu lillāh while it is still full, not only when it is finished.

The full entry has 5 more reflections, questions to sit with, and "Live it today" - with the words, the roots and the tafsir alongside. Free, no account, works offline.