An-Naba · Makki · ayah 33 of 40

An-Naba 78:33

وَكَوَاعِبَ أَتْرَابًا

“And young women [companions] of equal age.”

Saheeh International

Essence

The Garden holds companions in the first bloom of youth, peers of one age, where no one is older, lesser or left out.

A reflection

First bloom, and equal

An elderly couple sit on the sofa with their wedding album open between them. She points at a photograph of the two of them, fifty years younger, laughing on the steps of the registry office. 'Look how young we were,' she says. He does not answer for a moment. Then he says they were exactly the same age, and thought they had for ever.

The two words of this ayah each carry a picture. The root of kawāʿib means jutting and rising. The kaʿb is the ankle-bone, standing out where shin meets foot. A square house was a kaʿba, and the Sacred House took the name from its height and squareness. A man of rank was called 'high of ankle'. Kawāʿib are young women in the first bloom of youth, newly grown. These are established senses. The sources explain the word this way, describing youth at its fullest and most beautiful.

The root of atrāb has two origins. One is dust. The other is equality: a tirb is a peer born at the same time. The ribs of the upper chest, where the bone ends lie level, are called tarāʾib. One commentator suggests the peers are named for that levelness, or for having touched the earth together at birth. The sources agree on the meaning: companions of one age, equal to one another.

So the ayah paints youth that does not fade and companionship among equals. Nobody in that company is ageing faster than the rest. No one is the older one, left behind, watching others bloom.

The couple on the sofa know how quickly first bloom passes. The Quran knows it too. It promises the mindful a youth that does not slip away, shared with those who stand level with them.

That is a gentle mercy for anyone who fears growing old. What fades here is not the end of the story.

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.