Ar-Rahman · Madani · ayah 70 of 78

Ar-Rahman 55:70

فِيهِنَّ خَيْرَٰتٌ حِسَانٌ

“In them are good and beautiful women -”

Saheeh International

Essence

Two words, good and beautiful: not 'better than' anyone, but good in themselves, and called beautiful by the One who made beauty.

A reflection

When the Maker of beauty says 'beautiful'

There is a ballet teacher in a northern city who has taught for thirty years. Her pupils say she has used the word 'beautiful' about a student's dancing exactly once. The girl it was said to is now in her forties. She still remembers the room, the music, and the silence after the word.

The weight of praise depends on who gives it.

This ayah describes the companions of the lower gardens in two words: khayrātun ḥisān, good and beautiful. Most readers move past it quickly, as one more line in a list of the Garden's pleasures.

One early writer, quoted in a commentary, stopped on the second word. When the Creator of beauty describes something as beautiful, he said, consider what is there.

That is the right way to hear it. Ḥisān is not a human compliment, offered loosely. It is the verdict of the One who made every beautiful thing that has ever existed. The sunrise, the human face, the shape of a leaf. When He says 'beautiful', the word carries the whole weight of His making.

The same commentary adds: if Allah Himself says 'beautiful', who could possibly describe their beauty?

So the ayah is short on purpose. It does not try to describe. It gives you the word, and the One who said it, and leaves the rest to your awe.

That is also a lesson about how to receive praise in this world. Most of it comes from people who barely looked. It is pleasant and forgettable. But there is one judgement of you that will carry the full weight of its speaker. Live for that word, the way the dancer lived for her teacher's one 'beautiful'.

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.