Al-Waqi'ah · Makki · ayah 37 of 96

Al-Waqi'ah 56:37

عُرُبًا أَتْرَابًا

“Devoted [to their husbands] and of equal age,”

Saheeh International

Essence

Two words, and both are about relationship rather than looks: love made plain, and nobody standing above anybody.

A reflection

The first quality named is a way of speaking

On a harbour signal mast, one flag can say what no voice can. Shouting across half a mile of water gets you nothing but weather. So a whole language was built out of cloth. One hoist means the pilot is coming. Another means keep clear, or I am aground. The message is not louder. It is unmistakable.

Now take the first word of this ayah seriously. The commentaries gloss ʿurub with a cluster of meanings, and they circle one idea. Loving towards their husbands. Showing affection openly. Good of speech. Good at companionship. One commentary gives the etymology outright and it settles the matter. The word comes from aʿraba, to make a thing plain, so the ʿarūb makes her love plain by manner, warmth and good words.

That is the same root as iʿrāb, the grammarians' word for marking a sentence so its meaning cannot be mistaken. One lexicon says a man aʿraba about himself when he stated his case clearly. To say there is no ʿarīb in a place is to say there is not a soul there who could speak for himself.

So the first thing said about the companionship of that place is not an appearance. It is that love there is expressed.

Sit honestly with that, because it indicts most households. The affection is real and unsaid. The father who would die for his children has not told them so in twenty years. The couple who are loyal and never warm. The brother you would drop everything for, who has no idea. We hoist no flags and then wonder why nobody can read us across the water.

And there is nothing stopping you today. The ayah describes a state. It also, by describing it, tells you what is worth practising.

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.