An-Naba · Makki · ayah 24 of 40

An-Naba 78:24

لَّا يَذُوقُونَ فِيهَا بَرْدًا وَلَا شَرَابًا

“They will not taste therein [any] coolness or drink.”

Saheeh International

Essence

In the Fire there is not even a taste of coolness or easing drink: every small relief we take for granted is gone.

A reflection

Not even a taste

On a building site in a July heatwave, a bricklayer stops at noon. He walks to the outside tap, bends down and holds his head under the cold water for ten seconds. When he stands up, water running down his back, he closes his eyes and breathes out. It is the best ten seconds of his day.

The root of bard is exactly that relief. The lexicons say it is coolness against heat. The Arabs spoke of cold water 'cooling' the burning liver of a thirsty man. The cool ends of the day, morning and evening, were called 'the two cools'. A pleasant companion was 'cool of shade'. Coolness also meant stillness, and sleep, which cools the restless. These are established senses.

The verb in front of it sharpens the loss. Dhāqa, to taste, is to take only a little. The lexicons say that for a full portion the Arabs said 'eat'. An archer 'tasted' a bow by drawing the string slightly to feel it. So the ayah does not say they will have little coolness. It says they will not have even a taste.

The sources discuss what bard means here. Most take it as the ordinary coolness: a breath of cool air, a patch of shade, a cold drink that quiets the burning inside. One commentator prefers this, saying the plain meaning should come before a rare one. Others, including several early grammarians, took it as sleep, since sleep cools a thirsty person. One grammarian gathers them: any coolness that brings rest, whether breeze, shade or sleep.

Whichever it is, the picture is of a place where even the smallest relief has been withdrawn. The ten seconds under the tap do not exist there.

That should make us look again at our own day. How many times did coolness find us today, unnoticed? A breeze, a glass of water, an hour of sleep. Each was a taste of mercy.

The full entry has 4 more reflections, questions to sit with, and "Live it today" - with the words, the roots and the tafsir alongside. Free, no account, works offline.