إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ يُدْخِلُ ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوا۟ وَعَمِلُوا۟ ٱلصَّٰلِحَٰتِ جَنَّٰتٍ تَجْرِى مِن تَحْتِهَا ٱلْأَنْهَٰرُ يُحَلَّوْنَ فِيهَا مِنْ أَسَاوِرَ مِن ذَهَبٍ وَلُؤْلُؤًا وَلِبَاسُهُمْ فِيهَا حَرِيرٌ · وَهُدُوٓا۟ إِلَى ٱلطَّيِّبِ مِنَ ٱلْقَوْلِ وَهُدُوٓا۟ إِلَىٰ صِرَٰطِ ٱلْحَمِيدِ
Inna'llāha yudkhilu'lladhīna āmanū wa ʿamilu'ṣ-ṣāliḥāti jannātin tajrī min taḥtiha'l-anhār · Yuḥallawna fīhā min asāwira min dhahabin wa luʾluʾā · Wa libāsuhum fīhā ḥarīr · Wa hudū ila'ṭ-ṭayyibi mina'l-qawl · Wa hudū ilā ṣirāṭi'l-ḥamīd
"God brings those who believe and do righteous deeds into gardens beneath which rivers flow. There they are adorned with bracelets of gold and with pearls; and their garment there is silk. They have been guided to the good of speech; they have been guided to the path of the Praiseworthy."
| Subject | 19-22 | 23-24 |
|---|---|---|
| Clothing | Thiyābun min nār — garments of fire | Libāsuhum fīhā ḥarīr — silk |
| What comes upon them | Yuṣabbu … al-ḥamīm — boiling water is poured | Yuḥallawna … asāwira min dhahab — bracelets are put on |
| What is at hand | Maqāmiʿu min ḥadīd — maces of iron | Asāwira min dhahab — bracelets of gold |
| Direction | Kullamā arādū an yakhrujū … uʿīdū — being sent back | Wa hudū … wa hudū — being guided |
The clearest correspondence is in the two metals: ḥadīd and dhahab. Both are metal, both are in the hand. One is for striking, the other for wearing.
I record this as an observation about word order, and its ground is the kinds of the words: the contrast is built not with abstract concepts but with objects of the same kind. Garment against garment, metal against metal, what comes from above against what comes from above.
Everything enumerated is material: bracelet, pearl, silk. Then something of another kind comes abruptly: aṭ-ṭayyibu mina'l-qawl — "the good of speech".
And the verb is repeated: wa hudū … wa hudū. Twice the same verb, in two separate directions: speech and path.
I record this as my own reading, and its ground is the breaking of the list: after objects have been enumerated, the verse stops enumerating objects. The last two items are not objects but orientations.
And that the verb is passive must be recorded: hudū — "they were guided". They did not find; they were led. This agrees with the sequence treated at al-ʿAnkabūt 29/69: first the effort, then the guiding. I rely on that treatment.
صِرَٰطِ ٱلْحَمِيدِ — "the path of al-ḥamīd". The construct is striking: the path is annexed to an attribute. Ṣirāṭun mustaqīm (the straight path) is the common construct; here the path is named by the attribute of the station to which it leads.
And the attribute ḥamīd occurs twice in this sūra: here (24) and in the sixty-fourth verse (wa inna'llāha la-huwa'l-ghaniyyu'l-ḥamīd). The root ح-م-د — praise. The subject of the two occurrences differs: one is the far end of a path travelled, the other is being in need of nothing.