View source for Houri

{{Short description|Beautiful woman in Paradise in Islamic belief}}
{{Redirect|Huri|the village in Iran|Huri, Iran|the Ainu bird monster or deity|huri (Ainu legendary bird)|other uses|Houri (disambiguation)}}
{{Redirect|Houris|the Egyptian god|Horus}}
{{use dmy dates|date=July 2025}}
[[File:Houris_on_Camelback_-_15th_century_Persia.png|thumb|Houris in [[Jannah|paradise]], riding camels. From a 15th-century Persian manuscript.]]
{{Islam}}

In [[Islam]], a '''houri''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|h|ʊə|r|i|,_|ˈ|h|aʊ|ə|r|i}};<ref>{{Cite OED|houri|access-date=30 September 2024}}</ref> {{langx|ar|حُـورِيَّـة ,حُورِيّ, حَورَاء|ḥūriyy, ḥūrīya, hawraa’|Companion}}),{{#tag:ref|{{lang|ar|حورية}} is also [[Arabic transliteration|transliterated]] as {{Transliteration|ar|DIN|ḥūriyyah}} or {{Transliteration|ar|Wehr|ḥūriyya}}, {{IPA|ar|ħuːˈrijja|lang}}. adjectival and feminine singular formation from {{lang|ar|حُـور}}, plural of masculine singular ''aḥwar'' {{lang|ar|أحور}} and feminine singular ''ḥawrā’'' {{lang|ar|حوراء}} the complete name, ''ḥur ʿayn'' {{langx|ar|حور عين}} "literally means having eyes with marked contrast of black and white"<ref name="JISYYHIU1981:1642" />|group=Note}} or '''houris''' or '''hoor ayn''' in plural form, is a heavenly female with beautiful eyes who lives alongside the [[Muslim]] faithful in [[Jannah|paradise]].<ref>[http://www.dictionary.com/browse/houris "Houri"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210921120639/https://www.dictionary.com/browse/houris |date=2021-09-21 }}. ''[[Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary]]''.</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Definition of HOURI |url=https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/houri |access-date=2024-11-17 |website=www.merriam-webster.com |language=en}}</ref>

The term "houris" is used four times in the [[Quran]],<ref name="JISYYHIU1981:1642">[[Houri#JISYYHIU1981|Smith & Haddad, ''Islamic Understanding'',  1981]]: p.164</ref> although the houris are mentioned indirectly several other times, (sometimes as ''azwāj'', lit. companions), and hadith provide a "great deal of later elaboration".<ref name="JISYYHIU1981:1642" /> Muslim scholars differ as to whether they refer to the believing women of this world or a separate creation, with the majority opting for the latter.<ref name="Study Quran,2">{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GVSzBgAAQBAJ |title=The Study Quran: A New Translation and Commentary |date=2015 |publisher=HarperCollins |isbn=978-0-06-112586-7 |editor1=Seyyed Hossein Nasr |location=[[New York City|New York, NY]] |ref={{SfnRef|The Study Quran}} |editor2=Caner K. Dagli |editor3=Maria Massi Dakake |editor4=Joseph E.B. Lumbard |editor5=Mohammed Rustom}}</ref>

Houris have been said to have "captured the imagination of Muslims and non-Muslims alike".<ref name="JISYYHIU1981:1642" /> According to hadith, faithful women of the [[Dunya]] will be superior to female houris in paradise.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Soysal |first=Gökhan |date=2022-03-28 |title=What Will Women Receive in Paradise for Controlling Their Anger? |url=https://seekersguidance.org/answers/eschatology/what-will-women-receive-in-paradise-for-controlling-their-anger/ |access-date=2024-11-27 |website=SeekersGuidance |language=en-US}}</ref> Despite obvious parallels, houris are not perfectly analogous to Western Angels, as those are named Separately in Quranic texts.

== Etymology ==

In classical Arabic usage, the word {{Transliteration|ar|ḥūr}} ({{langx|ar|حُور}}) is the plural of both {{Transliteration|ar|ʾaḥwar}} ({{langx|ar|أحْوَر}}) (masculine) and {{Transliteration|ar|ḥawrāʾ}} ({{langx|ar|حَوْراء}}) (feminine)<ref>see [http://lexicon.quranic-research.net/pdf/Page_0666.pdf ''Lane's Lexicon''], p. 666 and [http://ejtaal.net/aa/#HW4=260,HW3=230,LL=2_302,LS=2,HA=160,SG=322,BR=267,PR=47,AAN=152,VI=125,MGF=240,UQW=390,UMR=292,UMS=236,UMJ=189,LL_HIDE,LS_HIDE Hans Wehr, p. 247]</ref> which can be translated as "having eyes with an intense contrast of white and black".<ref>''Wehr's Arabic-English Dictionary'', 1960.</ref>

The word "houri" entered several European languages in the 17th and 18th centuries.<ref>{{Citation |last=Rustomji |first=Nerina |title=The Word |date=2021-09-02 |work=The Beauty of the Houri: Heavenly Virgins, Feminine Ideals |pages=0 |editor-last=Rustomji |editor-first=Nerina |url=https://academic.oup.com/book/39996/chapter-abstract/340322721?redirectedFrom=fulltext |access-date=2024-11-19 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-024934-2}}</ref>

[[Arthur Jeffery]] and other scholars suggests an Iranian origin for the term, proposing the origins of the word to be the [[Middle Persian]] hū̆rust ''{{'}}well grown{{'}}''.<ref name=":02">{{Citation |last=Cheung |first=Johnny |title=On the (Middle) Iranian borrowings in Qur'ānic (and pre-Islamic) Arabic |date=2016-06-06 |url=https://shs.hal.science/halshs-01445860 |access-date=2023-02-09 |language=en}}</ref>

== Descriptions in scripture and commentaries ==
{{see also| Houri #Disputed sexualised descriptions }}<!-- this is more for editors than readers, it's to stop this section getting bloated with the aspects of descriptions that are debated -->

The houris are mentioned in several passages of the [[Quran]], always in plural form, but only mentioned directly four times. No specific number is ever given in the Quran for the number of houris accompanying each believer.{{citation needed|date=July 2025}}

=== Quranic description ===

In the [[tafsir]]s and commentaries on the Quran, Houris are described as:

* [[As-Saaffat|37:48]]<ref>{{cite web |title=Quran 37:48 |url=https://www.islamawakened.com/quran/37/48 |access-date=29 April 2020 |work=Islam Awakened}}</ref> "with large and beautiful eyes",<ref>{{cite web |author=al-Jalalayn |title=Tafsir As-Saaffat |url=https://www.altafsir.com/Tafasir.asp?tMadhNo=1&tTafsirNo=74&tSoraNo=37&tAyahNo=48&tDisplay=yes&UserProfile=0&LanguageId=2 |access-date=30 April 2020 |work=[[Tafsir al-Jalalayn]]}}</ref>
* [[Ṣād (surah)|38:52]]<ref>{{cite web |title=Quran 38:52 |url=https://www.islamawakened.com/quran/38/52 |access-date=29 April 2020 |work=Islam Awakened}}</ref> "companions of modest gaze well matched",<ref name="altafsir12">{{cite web |author=al-Jalalayn |title=Tafsir Saad |url=https://www.altafsir.com/Tafasir.asp?tMadhNo=1&tTafsirNo=74&tSoraNo=38&tAyahNo=52&tDisplay=yes&UserProfile=0&LanguageId=2 |access-date=30 April 2020 |work=[[Tafsir al-Jalalayn]]}}</ref>
* [[Ad-Dukhan|44:54]]<ref>{{cite web |title=Quran 44:54 |url=https://www.islamawakened.com/quran/44/54 |access-date=29 April 2020 |work=Islam Awakened}}</ref> "wide and beautiful eyes",<ref>{{cite web |author=al-Jalalayn |title=Tafsir Ad-Dukhan |url=https://www.altafsir.com/Tafasir.asp?tMadhNo=1&tTafsirNo=74&tSoraNo=44&tAyahNo=54&tDisplay=yes&UserProfile=0&LanguageId=2 |access-date=30 April 2020 |work=[[Tafsir al-Jalalayn]]}}</ref>
* [[At-Tur|52:20]]<ref>{{cite web |title=Quran 52:20 |url=https://www.islamawakened.com/quran/52/20 |access-date=29 April 2020 |work=Islam Awakened}}</ref> "beautiful houris of wide and beautiful eyes",<ref>{{cite web |author=al-Jalalayn |title=Tafsir At-Tur |url=https://www.altafsir.com/Tafasir.asp?tMadhNo=1&tTafsirNo=74&tSoraNo=52&tAyahNo=20&tDisplay=yes&UserProfile=0&LanguageId=2 |access-date=30 April 2020 |work=[[Tafsir al-Jalalayn]]}}</ref>
* [[Ar-Rahman|55:56]]<ref>{{cite web |date= |title=Tafsir Ibn Kathir, Surah Al Rahman, Arabic English, HTMl, PDF, Free Download |url=http://www.quran4u.com/Tafsir%20Ibn%20Kathir/055%20Rahman.htm |access-date=2022-08-28 |publisher=Quran4u.com}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Quran 55:56 |url=https://www.islamawakened.com/quran/55/56 |access-date=29 April 2020 |work=Islam Awakened}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |author=al-Jalalayn |title=TafsirAr-Rahman |url=https://www.altafsir.com/Tafasir.asp?tMadhNo=1&tTafsirNo=74&tSoraNo=55&tAyahNo=56&tDisplay=yes&UserProfile=0&LanguageId=2 |access-date=30 April 2020 |work=[[Tafsir al-Jalalayn]]}}</ref> "untouched beforehand by man or jinn",<ref>{{cite web |title=Surah Ar-Rahman - 56 |url=https://quran.com/55/56?translations=38,85,84,22,101,17,18,95}}</ref>
* 55:58 "as elegant as rubies and coral",<ref>{{Cite web |title=Ayah ar-Rahman (The Beneficent, The Mercy Giving, The Merciful) 55:58 |url=https://www.islamawakened.com/quran/55/58/ |website=www.islamawakened.com}}</ref>
* 55:72<ref>{{cite web |title=Quran 55:72 |url=https://www.islamawakened.com/quran/55/72 |access-date=29 April 2020 |work=Islam Awakened}}</ref> "bright-eyed damsels sheltered in pavilions",<ref name="Tafsir Ar-Rahman2">{{cite web |author=al-Jalalayn |title=Tafsir Ar-Rahman |url=https://www.altafsir.com/Tafasir.asp?tMadhNo=1&tTafsirNo=74&tSoraNo=55&tAyahNo=72&tDisplay=yes&UserProfile=0&LanguageId=2 |access-date=30 April 2020 |work=[[Tafsir al-Jalalayn]]}}</ref>
* 55:74<ref>{{cite web |title=Quran 55:74 |url=https://www.islamawakened.com/quran/55/74 |access-date=29 April 2020 |work=Islam Awakened}}</ref> "untouched by any man",<ref name="Tafsir Ar-Rahman2" /> "reclining on green cushions and beautiful carpets",<ref name="Tafsir Ar-Rahman2" />
* [[Al-Waqi'a|56:8]]<ref>{{cite web |date= |title=Tafsir Ibn Kathir, Surah Al Waqiah, Arabic English, HTMl, PDF, Free Download |url=http://www.quran4u.com/Tafsir%20Ibn%20Kathir/056%20Waqiah.htm |access-date=2022-08-28 |publisher=Quran4u.com}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Quran 56:8 |url=https://www.islamawakened.com/quran/56/8 |access-date=29 April 2020 |work=Islam Awakened}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |author=al-Jalalayn |title=Tafsir Ar-Al-Waqi'a |url=https://www.altafsir.com/Tafasir.asp?tMadhNo=1&tTafsirNo=74&tSoraNo=56&tAyahNo=8&tDisplay=yes&UserProfile=0&LanguageId=2 |access-date=30 April 2020 |work=[[Tafsir al-Jalalayn]]}}</ref> "the people of the right, how ˹blessed˺ will they be"<ref name="Al-Waqi'ah quran.com2">{{cite web |title=Al-Waqi'ah 56:8, (translation, Dr., Mustafa Khattab, the Clear Quran) |url=https://quran.com/56/5-30 |access-date=2 July 2022 |website=Quran.com}}</ref> [[Al-Waqi'a|56:22]]<ref>{{cite web |title=Quran 56:22 |url=https://www.islamawakened.com/quran/56/22 |access-date=29 April 2020 |work=Islam Awakened}}</ref> and they will have "houris,  maidens with intensely black eyes set against the whiteness of their irises",<ref name="Tafsir Al-Waqi'a2">{{cite web |author=al-Jalalayn |title=Tafsir Al-Waqi'a |url=https://www.altafsir.com/Tafasir.asp?tMadhNo=1&tTafsirNo=74&tSoraNo=56&tAyahNo=22&tDisplay=yes&UserProfile=0&LanguageId=2 |access-date=30 April 2020 |work=[[Tafsir al-Jalalayn]]}}</ref>
* 56:35<ref>{{cite web |title=Quran 56:35 |url=https://www.islamawakened.com/quran/56/35 |access-date=29 April 2020 |work=Islam Awakened}}</ref> "created without the process of birth",<ref name="Tafsir Al-Waqi'a2" />
* [[An-Naba'|78:31–33]]<ref>{{cite web |date= |title=Tafsir Ibn Kathir, Surah Al Naba, Arabic English, HTMl, PDF, Free Download |url=http://www.quran4u.com/Tafsir%20Ibn%20Kathir/078%20Naba.htm |access-date=2022-08-28 |publisher=Quran4u.com}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Quran 78:31 |url=https://www.islamawakened.com/quran/78/31 |access-date=29 April 2020 |work=Islam Awakened}}</ref> and as "splendid companions",<ref>{{cite web |author=al-Jalalayn |title=Tafsir An-Naba' |url=https://www.altafsir.com/Tafasir.asp?tMadhNo=1&tTafsirNo=74&tSoraNo=78&tAyahNo=33&tDisplay=yes&UserProfile=0&LanguageId=2 |access-date=30 April 2020 |work=[[Tafsir al-Jalalayn]]}}</ref>
* 44:54 "Thus. And We will marry them to fair women with large, [beautiful] eyes".<ref>{{Cite web |last=AboeIsmail |date=2019-03-12 |title=Surah 44: ad-Dukhan |url=https://quranonline.net/ad-dukhan/ |access-date=2022-10-14 |website=QuranOnline.net |language=en}}</ref>

It is thought that the four verses specifically mentioning Houri were all "probably" 'revealed' at "the end of the first [[Meccan surah|Meccan period]]".<ref name="JISYYHIU1981:1652">[[Houri#JISYYHIU1981|Smith & Haddad, ''Islamic Understanding'',  1981]]: p.165</ref>

=== Hadith description ===

Details of descriptions of houri (or ḥūr), in [[hadith]] collections differ, but one summary (by Smith & Haddad) states:<ref name="JISYYHIU1981:1642" /><blockquote>they are generally said to be composed of saffron from the feet to the knees, musk from the knees to the breast, amber from the breast to the neck, and camphor from the neck to the head.<ref>''Kitāb aḥwāl al-qiyāma'', p. 111. References to the general description of the ḥūr are abundant in the collections of traditions; see, for example, the summary and numerous citations of Ṣoubḥi El-Ṣaleḥ, ''La Vie Future selon le Coran''. Paris: Librarie Philosophique J. Vrin, 1971'', p.25. quoted in [[Houri#JISYYHIU1981|Smith & Haddad, ''Islamic Understanding'',  1981]]: p.164''</ref> Working often with multiples of seven, the traditionalists have described them as wearing seventy to 70,000 gowns, through which even the marrow of their bones can be seen because of the fineness of their flesh, reclining on seventy couches of red hyacinth encrusted with rubies and jewels, and the like. The ḥūr do not sleep, do not get pregnant, do not menstruate, spit, or blow their noses, and are never sick.<ref>''La Vie Future selon le Coran'', p.39. quoted in [[Houri#JISYYHIU1981|Smith & Haddad, ''Islamic Understanding'',  1981]]: p.164</ref></blockquote>In hadith, Houris have been described as "transparent to the marrow of their bones",<ref name="Sunan_al-Tirmidhi_v22">Abu {{ayin}}Isa Muhammad ibn {{ayin}}Isa at-Tirmidhi, Sunan al-Tirmidhi, Vol. 2.</ref><ref name="Bukhari_4762">{{hadith-usc|bukhari|4|54|476|usc=yes}}</ref> "eternally young",<ref name="Sunan_al-Tirmidhi_56382">Abu {{ayin}}Isa Muhammad ibn {{ayin}}Isa at-Tirmidhi, Sunan al-Tirmidhi, hadith: 5638</ref> "hairless except the eyebrows and the head",<ref name="Sunan_al-Tirmidhi_56382" /> "pure"<ref name="Bukhari_4762" /> and "beautiful".<ref name="Bukhari_4762" /> [[Sunni]] [[hadith]] scholars also relate a number of sayings of the Islamic Prophet [[Muhammad]] in which the houris are mentioned.

* A narration related by [[Muhammad al-Bukhari|Bukhari]] states that{{Blockquote|Everyone will have two wives from the houris, (who will be so beautiful, pure and transparent that) the marrow of the bones of their legs will be seen through the bones and the flesh.<ref>{{Hadith-usc|bukhari|usc=yes|4|54|476}}</ref>}}
* Another, reported by [[Muslim ibn al-Hajjaj Nishapuri]], relates that{{Blockquote|The first group to get into Paradise will be like the full moon during the night, and the one following this group will be like the most luminescent of the sky's shining stars in the sky; each man among them will have two spouses, the marrow of whose shanks will glimmer be visible from beneath the flesh—none will be without a spouse in Paradise.<ref name="Muslim 40 6793">{{Hadith-usc|muslim|usc=yes|40|6793}}</ref>|author=|title=|source=}}
* [[Al-Tirmidhi]] reports{{Blockquote|[[Al-Hasan al-Basri|Al-Hasan Al-Basri]] says that an old woman came to the messenger of God and asked, O Messenger of God make ''[[dua]]'' that God grants me entrance into [[Jannah]]. The Messenger of God replied, "O Mother, an old woman cannot enter Jannah." That woman started crying and began to leave. The Messenger of God said, "Say to the woman that one will not enter in a state of old age, but God will make all the women of Jannah young virgins. God Most High says, 'Lo! We have created them a (new) creation and made them virgins, lovers, equal in age.{{'"}}<ref>Shamaa-il Tirmidhi, Chapter 035, Hadith Number 006 (230)</ref>}}
* According to a report transmitted by [[Ibn Majah]] in his ''Sunan'':{{Blockquote|A woman does not annoy her husband but his spouse from amongst the maidens with wide eyes intensely white and deeply black will say: "Do not annoy him, may Allah ruin you. He is with you as a passing guest. Very soon, he will part with you and come to us".<ref>{{cite web|url=https://ahadith.co.uk/chapter.php?page=18&cid=167&rows=10  |title=Sunan Ibn Majah – The Chapters on Marriage |author=Muadh bin Jabal |author-link=Muadh bin Jabal |work=AHadith.com|access-date=30 April 2020}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://muslimhope.com/IslamIndex.htm|title=Index of Islam|website=muslimhope.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.ghazali.org/works/marriage.htm|title=Book on the Etiquette of Marriage|website=www.ghazali.org}}</ref>}}

=== Quranic commentators ===

[[Sunni]] sources mention that like all men and women of Paradise, the houris do not experience [[urination]], [[defecation]] or [[menstruation]].<ref name="Religious_Sciences2">[[Al-Ghazali|Al Ghazzali]], Ihya ʿUlum al-Din (The Revival of the Religious Sciences) Vol. 4</ref>

Ibn Kathir states that [[jinn]]s will have female jinn companions in Paradise.<ref>{{cite book |author=Ismail ibn Kathir |author-link=Ibn Kathir |title=[[Tafsir ibn Kathir]] |year=2000 |chapter=The Reward of Those on the Right After}}</ref>

==== Contemporary ====

According to  Smith and  Haddad, if there is any generalization that can be made of "contemporary attitudes" toward the nature of the hereafter, including Houri, it is that it is "beyond human comprehension ... beyond time", that the Quran only "alluded to analogously".<ref name="JISYYHIU1981:167-82">[[Houri#JISYYHIU1981|Smith & Haddad, ''Islamic Understanding'',  1981]]: p.167-8</ref>

==== Imam Reza ====

According to 8th Shia Imam, [[Imam Reza]], the heavenly spouses are created of dirt ([[Creation of life from clay]]) and saffron.<ref>{{cite web |date=4 January 2012 |title=حوریان بهشتی فقط برای مردان؟! |work=موسسه فرهنگی و اطلاع رسانی تبیان |url=https://article.tebyan.net/193001/%D8%AD%D9%88%D8%B1%DB%8C%D8%A7%D9%86-%D8%A8%D9%87%D8%B4%D8%AA%DB%8C-%D9%81%D9%82%D8%B7-%D8%A8%D8%B1%D8%A7%DB%8C-%D9%85%D8%B1%D8%AF%D8%A7%D9%86-}}</ref>

=== Symbolism ===

[[Muhammad Asad]] believes that the references to houris and other depictions of paradise should be understood as allegorical rather than literal, citing the "impossibility of man's really 'imagining' paradise". In support of this view he quotes Quran verse 32:17<ref>{{Cite quran|32|17|s=ns}}</ref> and a hadith found in Bukhari and Muslim.<ref>https://archive.org/stream/TheMessageOfTheQuran_20140419/55877864-54484011-Message-of-Quran-Muhammad-Asad-Islam-Translation_djvu.txt ""what is kept hidden for them [by way] of a joy of the eyes", i.e., of blissful delights, irrespective of whether seen, heard or felt. The expression "what is kept hidden for them" clearly alludes to the unknowable - and, therefore, only allegorically describable - quality of life in the hereafter. The impossibility of man's really "imagining" paradise has been summed up by the Prophet in the well-authenticated hadith; "God says: 'I have readied for My righteous servants what no eye has ever seen, and no ear has ever heard, and no heart of man has ever conceived'" (Bukhari and Muslim, on the authority of Abu Hurayrah; also Tirmidhi). This hadith has always been regarded by the Companions as the Prophet's own comment on the above verse'(cf. Fath al-Bari VIII, 418 f.). "</ref>

[[Shia]] philosopher [[Muhammad Husayn Tabatabai]] mentions that the most important fact of the description of the houris is that good deeds performed by believers are re-compensated by the houris, who are the physical manifestations of ideal forms that will not fade away over time and who will serve as faithful companions to those whom they accompany.<ref name="Tafsir Almizan2">[[Muhammad Husayn Tabatabai]], [[Tafsir al-Mizan]]</ref>

=== Similarities to Zoroastrianism ===
{{See also| Religious influences on Zoroastrianism }}

The houri has been said to resemble afterlife figures in Zoroastrianism  narratives:<blockquote>The Zoroastrian text, Hadhoxt Nask, describes the fate of a soul after death. The soul of the righteous spends three nights near the corpse, and at the end of the third night, the soul sees its own religion (daena) in the form of a beautiful damsel, a lovely fifteen year-old virgin; thanks to good actions she has grown beautiful; they then ascend heaven together.<ref name="iWWINaM1995:472">[[Houri#iWWINaM1995|Ibn Warraq, ''Why I Am Not a Muslim'',  1995]]: p.47</ref>

The orientalist Arthur Jeffery argues in his book Foreign 'Vocabulary of the Qur’an' that the two concepts closely correspond to each other. Possibly the word "houri" also has an Iranian origin, but this is heavily debated among scholars. Jeffery believes it might have been borrowed from the Pahlavi word 'hurūst'. Although the word itself might have been borrow by the Arabs from Aramaic, the relation to the 'maidens of paradise' likely came under influence of this Pahlavi word,<ref>''The Foreign Vocabulary of the Qurʼān'' . BRILL. 2007. {{ISBN|978-90-04-15352-3}}. Archived from the original on 2023-08-30.</ref></blockquote>

== Gender and identity ==

It has traditionally been believed that the houris are beautiful women who are promised as a reward to believing men,<ref name="dawn-houri-202" >{{cite web |date=9 June 2011 |title=Are all 'houris' female? |url=https://www.dawn.com/news/635343 |access-date=22 April 2019 |website=Dawn.com}}</ref> with numerous ''[[hadith]]'' and [[Tafsir|Quranic exegetes]] describing them as such.<ref name="iqa-intercourse2">{{cite web | title = Question 10053. Will men in Paradise have intercourse with al-hoor aliyn? | url = https://islamqa.info/en/answers/10053/will-men-in-paradise-have-intercourse-with-al-hoor-aliyn |access-date=6 August 2020 | website = Islam Question and Answer }}</ref> In recent years, however, some have argued that the term ''ḥūr'' refers both to pure men and pure women (it being the plural term for both the masculine and feminine forms which refer to whiteness) and the belief that the term houris only refers to females who are in paradise is a misconception.<ref name="dawn-houri-202" />

The Quran uses feminine as well as gender-neutral adjectives to describe houris,<ref name="auto2">{{Cite web |title=The Quranic Arabic Corpus - Word by Word Grammar, Syntax and Morphology of the Holy Quran |url=https://corpus.quran.com/wordbyword.jsp?chapter=56&verse=22 |website=corpus.quran.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=The Quranic Arabic Corpus - Word by Word Grammar, Syntax and Morphology of the Holy Quran |url=https://corpus.quran.com/wordbyword.jsp?chapter=52&verse=20 |website=corpus.quran.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=The Quranic Arabic Corpus - Word by Word Grammar, Syntax and Morphology of the Holy Quran |url=https://corpus.quran.com/wordbyword.jsp?chapter=55&verse=72 |website=corpus.quran.com}}</ref>  by describing them with the indefinite adjective {{Lang|ar|عِينٌ}}, which some have taken to imply that certain passages are referring to both male and female companions.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Asad |first=M. |title=The Message of the Quran, Surah 56:22 [8] |quote=The noun hur—rendered by me as ''companions pure''—is a plural of both ''ahwar'' (masc.) and ''hawra' ''(fem.)}}</ref> In addition, the use of masculine pronouns for the houris' companions does not imply that this companionship is restricted to men, as the masculine form encompasses the female in classical and Quranic Arabic—thus functioning as an all-gender including default form—and is used in the Quran to address all humanity and all the believers in general.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Quranic Arabic Corpus - Word by Word Grammar, Syntax and Morphology of the Holy Quran |url=https://corpus.quran.com/wordbyword.jsp?chapter=2&verse=104 |website=corpus.quran.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=The Quranic Arabic Corpus - Word by Word Grammar, Syntax and Morphology of the Holy Quran |url=https://corpus.quran.com/wordbyword.jsp?chapter=2&verse=93 |website=corpus.quran.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=The Quranic Arabic Corpus - Word by Word Grammar, Syntax and Morphology of the Holy Quran |url=https://corpus.quran.com/wordbyword.jsp?chapter=2&verse=172 |website=corpus.quran.com}}</ref>{{#tag:ref|In these verses, God addresses the believers, male and female alike, and orders them to speak '''وَقُولُوا (masculine form)''' and listen '''وَاسْمَعُوا (masculine form),''' using the grammatical masculine form although the addressed group includes females.|group=Note}}

In ''[[The Message of The Qur'an]]'', [[Muhammad Asad]] describes the usage of the term ''ḥūr'' in the verses 44:54 and 56:22, arguing that "the noun ḥūr—rendered by me as 'companions pure'—is a plural of both ''aḥwār'' (masc.) and ''ḥawrā''' (fem.)... hence, the compound expression ḥūr ʿīn signifies, approximately, 'pure beings, most beautiful of eye'."<ref>{{Cite book |title=Ibid The Message of the Quran by M. Asad, Surah 56:22 note [8]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |title=Ibid The Message of the Quran by M. Asad, Surah 44:54 note [30] |quote=For the rendering of hur 'in as 'companions pure, most beautiful of eye', see surah {56}, notes [8] and [13]. It is to be noted that the noun zawj (lit., 'a pair' or – according to the context – 'one of a pair') applies to either of the two sexes, as does the transitive verb zawaja, 'he paired' or 'joined', i.e., one person with another.}}</ref>

[[Annemarie Schimmel]] says that the Quranic description of the houris should be viewed in a context of love: "every pious man who lives according to God's order will enter Paradise where rivers of milk and honey flow in cool, fragrant gardens and virgin beloveds await home".<ref>Annemarie Schimmel, ''Islam: An Introduction'', p. 13, "Muhammad"</ref>

=== Relation to earthly women ===

Regarding the eschatological status of this-worldly women vis-à-vis the houris, scholars have maintained that righteous Human women of this life are of a higher station than Men’s Female Hoors.<ref name="Study Quran,2" /> [[Sunni]] theologian Aḥmad al-Ṣāwī (d. 1825), in his commentary on [[Ahmad al-Dardir]]'s work, states, "The sound position is that the women of this world will be seventy thousand times better than the dark-eyed Fair Ones (''ḥūr ʿīn'')."<ref>{{cite book |last=al-Ṣāwī |first=Aḥmad |url=https://archive.org/details/khareda |title=Ḥashiyat ʿAlā Sharḥ al-Kharīdat al-Bahīyah |date=1947 |publisher=Maṭbaʿat Muṣṭafā al-Bābī al-Ḥalabī wa Awlāduh |location=Cairo |page=67 |trans-title=An Annotative Commentary Upon "The Resplendent Pearl" |quote=والصحيح: أنّ نساء الدنيا يكنّ أفضل من الحور العين بسبعين ألف ضعف. |orig-year=composed 1813}}</ref> Muḥammad ibn ʿUmar Baḥraq (d.1524) mentions in his didactic primer for children that "Adamic women are better than the dark-eyed Damsels due to their prayer, fasting, and devotions".<ref>{{cite book |last=Bahraq al-Yamanī |first=Muḥammad ibn ʿUmar |url=https://archive.org/details/Hlyat.Albnatwal.banin/page/n128 |title=Ḥilyat al-Banāt wa'l-Banīn wa Zīnat al-Dunyā wa'l-Dīn |date=1996 |publisher=Dār al-Ḥāwī |page=129 |trans-title=The Splendour of Girls and Boys and the Adornment of This Life and the Next |quote=والنّساء الآدميّات أفضل من الحور العين بصلاتهنّ وصيامهنّ وعبادتهنّ. |orig-year=composed 15th-16th century}}</ref>

Other authorities appear to indicate that houris themselves are the women of this world resurrected in new form, with [[Fakhr al-Din al-Razi|Razi]] commenting that among the houris mentioned in the Quran will also be "[even] those toothless old women of yours whom God will resurrect as new beings".<ref>{{cite book |author=Asad, M. |author-link=Muhammad Asad |title=[[The Message of The Qur'an]] |year=2003 |at=Al-Hasan, quoted by Razi in his comments on 44:54 |chapter=(Surah) 56 Al-Waqiah, ayah 22}}</ref><ref name="Right After2">{{cite book |author=Ismail ibn Kathir |author-link=Ibn Kathir |title=[[Tafsir ibn Kathir]] |year=2000 |at=The Reward of Those on the Right After |chapter=(Surah) 56 Al-Waqiah ayat 35–36}}</ref> [[Muhammad ibn Jarir al-Tabari]] mentions that all righteous women, however old and decayed they may have been on earth, will be resurrected as virginal maidens and will, like their male counterparts, remain eternally young in paradise.<ref>{{cite book |last=Asad |first=M. |author-link=Muhammad Asad |title=[[The Message of The Qur'an]] |year=2003 |chapter=(Surah) 56 Al-Waqiah, ayat 35–36}}</ref> Modernist scholar [[Muḥammad ʿAbduh]] states "the women of the Garden are the good believers [''al-mu'mināt al-ṣalihāt''] known in the Qur'an as ''al-ḥūr al-ʿayn'', (although he also makes a distinction between earthly women and houri).<ref name="JISYYHIU1981:1662">[[Houri#JISYYHIU1981|Smith & Haddad, ''Islamic Understanding'',  1981]]: p.166</ref>

Verses that are thought to refer to women from earth in paradise (Q.2:25, 3:15, and 4:57) talk of "purified companions" [''azwāj muṭahhara''], which distinguishes them from ḥūr, who are by definition "pure rather than purified".<ref name="JISYYHIU1981:1652" />

== Disputed sexualised descriptions ==
{{further| Islamophobic trope #72 virgins }}

=== Sexual intercourse in Paradise ===

In the Quran, there is no overt mention of [[sexual intercourse]] in [[Jannah|Paradise]].<ref name="Heleem2" /> However, it is alluded to in [[hadith]]s, [[tafsir]]s<ref name="Tafsir Ibn Kathir - The Reward of Those on the Right After2">Ibn Kathir, ''Tafsir ibn Kathir (Quranic Commentary)'', "The Reward of Those on the Right After", [Chapter (Surah) Al-Waqiah (That Which Must Come To Pass)(56):35–36], Dar-us-Salam Publications, 2000, {{ISBN|1591440203}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |date=30 August 2000 |title=Will men in Paradise have intercourse with al-hoor aliyn? |url=https://islamqa.info/en/answers/10053/will-men-in-paradise-have-intercourse-with-al-hoor-aliyn |access-date=28 January 2020 |work=[[IslamQA]]}}</ref> and Islamic commentaries.<ref>{{cite web |author=Imam Muhammad Ibn Majah |title=Volume 5:37 Book of Zuhd 4337 |url=https://muflihun.com/ibnmajah/37/4337 |access-date=14 March 2020 |work=Muflihun.com}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |author=al-Jalalayn |title=Tafsir Yā Sīn |url=https://www.altafsir.com/Tafasir.asp?tMadhNo=1&tTafsirNo=74&tSoraNo=36&tAyahNo=55&tDisplay=yes&UserProfile=0&LanguageId=2 |access-date=14 March 2020 |work=[[Tafsir al-Jalalayn]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |author=Bouhdiba, Abdelwahab |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sIRsgQ5639oC&pg=PA76 |title=Sexuality in Islam |date=2008 |publisher=[[Routledge]] |isbn=9780415426008 |pages=75–76}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |author=Abdul-Rahman, Muhammad Saed |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=t-q0sI_3KZEC&q=415 |title=Islam: Questions and Answers: Basic Tenets of Faith: Belief (Part 2) |date=2003 |publisher=MSA Publication Ltd |isbn=1861790864 |pages=415–419}}</ref>

=== Reference to "72 virgins" ===
{{anchor|72 Virgins|72 virgins}}
{{redirect|72 virgins|other uses|72 virgins (disambiguation)|and|Islamophobic trope#72 virgins}}

The [[Sunni Islam|Sunni]] [[hadith]] scholar [[Al-Tirmidhi]] quotes Muhammad as having said:
{{Blockquote|The smallest reward for the people of Heaven is an abode where there are eighty thousand servants and seventy-two houri, over which stands a dome decorated with [[pearl]]s, [[Beryl#Aquamarine and maxixe|aquamarine]], and [[ruby]], as wide as the distance from [[Damascus|al-Jabiyyah]] to [[Sana'a|San'a]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://sunnah.com/tirmidhi:2562|title=Jami' at-Tirmidhi 2562 - Chapters on the description of Paradise - Sunnah.com - Sayings and Teachings of Prophet Muhammad (صلى الله عليه و سلم)|website=sunnah.com}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.livingislam.org/fiqhi/sp2-gfh_e.html#9|title=Various Questions Answered by Shaykh Gibril Haddad|publisher=Living Islam}}</ref>}}
However, others object that the narration granting all men seventy-two wives has a [[Ḍaʻīf|weak chain of narrators]].<ref name="Salahuddin Yusuf2">Salahuddin Yusuf, ''Riyadhus Salihin'', commentary on Nawawi, Chapter 372, Dar-us-Salam Publications (1999), {{ISBN|1-59144-053-X}}, {{ISBN|978-1-59144-053-6}}</ref>

Another hadith, also in ''Jami{{ayin}} at-Tirmidhi'' and deemed "good and sound" (''[[Hadith terminology|hasan sahih]]'') gives this reward specifically for the [[Shahid|martyr]]:
{{Blockquote|There are six things with Allah for the martyr. He is forgiven with the first flow of blood (he suffers), he is shown his place in Paradise, he is protected from punishment in the grave, secured from the greatest terror, the crown of dignity is placed upon his head—and its gems are better than the world and what is in it—he is married to seventy-two wives among the wide-eyed houris (Ar. {{lang|ar|اثْنَتَيْنِ وَسَبْعِينَ زَوْجَةً مِنَ الْحُورِ الْعِينِ}}) of Paradise, and he may intercede for seventy of his close relatives.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://sunnah.com/tirmidhi/22/46|title=Hadith – The Book on Virtues of Jihad - Jami'at-Tirmidhi |website=Sunnah.com - Sayings and Teachings of Prophet Muhammad (صلى الله عليه و سلم)}}</ref>}}

This hadith is sometimes [[List of common misconceptions about arts and culture#72 virgins|erroneously attributed]] to the Quran.<ref>{{cite news |last=Warraq |first=Ibn |date=January 12, 2002 |title=Virgins? What virgins? |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2002/jan/12/books.guardianreview5 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130622000632/http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2002/jan/12/books.guardianreview5 |archive-date=June 22, 2013 |work=The Guardian |location=London}}</ref><ref name="Urbanterrorism2">{{cite book |author=Anjali Nirmal |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8EqWnqdsgZMC&pg=PA33 |title=Urban Terrorism: Myths and Realities |date=2009 |publisher=Pointer Publishers |isbn=978-8171325986 |page=33}}</ref>

=== Outsider translations of the Qur'an ===
{{see also| Translation of the Qur'an }}

==== N. J. Dawood ====
{{further| N. J. Dawood #Koran | English translations of the Quran }}

The translation of the "Koran" (Qur'an) by [[N. J. Dawood]], published as a [[Penguin Books|Penguin]] paperback, describes houris as "chaste" and "virgins".<ref name="theguardian.com">quote https://www.theguardian.com/books/2002/jan/12/books.guardianreview5</ref>
Dawood was a native speaker of Arabic but not a Muslim or a religious scholar.<ref>{{cite web | title = NJ Dawood - obituary - Telegraph | url = http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/11287854/NJ-Dawood-obituary.html | date = 2014-12-11 | archive-url = https://archive.today/20141211232714/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/11287854/NJ-Dawood-obituary.html | archive-date = 2014-12-11 }}</ref><ref name="jpost.com">{{cite web | title=The Jewish master of Arabic &#124; the Jerusalem Post | date=22 January 2015 | url=https://www.jpost.com/international/the-jewish-master-of-arabic-388614 }}</ref> His expertise was poetry and his translation treated the text as a work of artistic literature. His 1956 edition re-ordered the [[Surahs]] to match the Bible, to make it easier for Western readers to understand.<!-- summarised from the biography page: [[N. J. Dawood]] -->
[[Ziauddin Sardar]], criticized Dawood' translation as containing "distortions that give the Qur'an violent and sexist overtones", in an article published by [[The Guardian]] comparing to a modern translation by [[Tarif Khalidi]].<ref>https://www.theguardian.com/books/2008/jun/21/saturdayreviewsfeatres.guardianreview26#:~:text=While%20Dawood's%20translation%20presents%20the,gardens%20they%20have%20immaculate%20spouses.%22 
* quote: "Dawood translates Az-Zumar (chapter 39) as "The Hordes", suggesting bands of barbarian mobs; Khalidi renders it as "The Groups"."
* quote: (reviewing [[Tarif Khalidi]]'s new translation to older versions) "The translation I have in mind is Khalidi's predecessor in the [[Penguin Classics]]: The Koran, translated with notes by NJ Dawood. First published in 1956, Dawood's translation has been republished in numerous editions. It has been a great source of discomfort for Muslims, who see in it deliberate distortions that give the Qur'an violent and sexist overtones. It is the one most non-Muslims cite when they tell me with great conviction what the Qur'an says."</ref>
Sardar described the very popular Dawood translation as "largely responsible for the current misconception that Muslim paradise is full of "virgins" - despite the fact that the Qur'an explicitly denies any carnal pleasures in paradise".<ref>https://www.theguardian.com/books/2008/jun/21/saturdayreviewsfeatres.guardianreview26 quote: "While Dawood's translation presents the Qur'an as a patriarchal, sexist text, Khalidi brings out the gender-neutral language of the original. A good example is provided by 2:21. In Dawood we read: "Men, serve your Lord." In Khalidi, it becomes: "O People! Worship your Lord." Dawood's translation of the famous verse 2:25, frequently quoted, is largely responsible for the current misconception that Muslim paradise is full of "virgins" - despite the fact that the Qur'an explicitly denies any carnal pleasures in paradise. This is because we find "men" in Dawood's translation in the garden of paradise who are "wedded to chaste virgins". Khalidi renders it correctly: "In these gardens they have immaculate spouses"."</ref>
Dawood's knowledge of the Arabic language is extensive and respected, and he also translated government documents, but him not being Muslim has made his translation controversial.<ref name="jpost.com"/> 
Many Muslims believe that fully capturing the meaning of the Quran in any other language is impossible and it should only be attempted by a Muslim who understands the religion.<ref name="jpost.com"/>{{better source needed| reason = this source is ok for now, but there are better sources available that could be used here|date=July 2025}}

==== Marmaduke Pickthall ====

Houris are also described as virgins in the translation by [[Marmaduke Pickthall]].<ref name="theguardian.com"/>

==== Christoph Luxenberg's Syriac raisins ====

[[Christoph Luxenberg]], in his German language book "[[The Syro-Aramaic Reading of the Koran]]" ({{langx|de|Die Syro-Aramaische Lesart des Koran}}), claimed that the word for Houris meant white raisins, based on its machining in [[Syriac language|Syriac]] [[Aramaic]].<ref name="theguardian.com"/>{{additional citation needed| reason = this source is ok for now, but better sources are probably available |date=July 2025}}

=== Fully grown adults ===

The virgins of paradise "they will be of one age, thirty-three years old", according to Ibn Kathir (as reported by Ad-Dahhak aka [[Ibn Abi Asim]]), based on his interpretation of the word ''Atrab'' ({{langx|ar|أَتْرَابًا}}) in Q.56:37).<ref name="quran4you2">{{cite web |title=Tafsir Ibn Kathir (English) Surah Al Waqiah. The Reward of Those on the Right After. أَتْرَابًا (Atrab) |url=http://www.quran4u.com/Tafsir%20Ibn%20Kathir/056%20Waqiah.htm |access-date=4 July 2022 |website=Quran Translation / Tafsir}}</ref><ref name="altafsir12" />

However, another interpretation of ''Atrab'' (in Q.56:37 and also Q.78:33) by Muhammad Haleen describes Houri "as being of similar age to their companions".<ref name="Abdel Haleem-UtQ-19992">{{cite book |last1=Abdel Haleem |first1=Muhammad |url=https://traditionalhikma.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Abdel-Haleem-Understanding-the-Quran.pdf |title=Understanding the Quran; Themes and Styles |date=1999 |publisher=I.B. Tauris |page=99 |access-date=4 July 2022}}</ref> An Islamic Books pamphlet also states Houri will "have the same age as their husbands so that they can relate to each other better", but also adds that they will "never become old";<ref name="Al-Hoor-al-Hayn2">{{cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/hoor-al-ayn-women-of-paradise |title=Al-Hoor-al-Hayn, Women of Paradise |date=n.d. |publisher=Islamic Books |access-date=4 July 2022}}</ref> (Translations of Q.56:37 and Q.78:33—for example by  Mustafa Khattab's the Clear Quran and by Pickthall—often include the phrase "equal age" but do not specify what the houris are of equal age to.)

On the other hand, the houris were created "without the process of birth", according to a classical Sunni interpretation of Q.56:35 in [[Tafsir al-Jalalayn]],{{#tag:ref|
*"Indeed, We will have perfectly created their mates" (Q.56:35) 
can be interpreted as 
"Verily We have created them with an unmediated creation namely the wide-eyed houris We created them without the process of birth", according to a classical Sunni interpretation of the Quran, [[Tafsir al-Jalalayn]], (translated by Feras Hamza)<ref>{{cite web |title=56:35 |url=https://www.altafsir.com/Tafasir.asp?tMadhNo=1&tTafsirNo=74&tSoraNo=56&tAyahNo=35&tDisplay=yes&UserProfile=0&LanguageId=2 |website=Al-Tafsir |access-date=4 July 2022}}</ref> |group=Note}} so that the heavenly virgins have no birthday or age in the earthly sense.{{citation needed|date=December 2024}}

Other sources, including a [[tafsir]] of [[Ibn Kathir]] (see above), emphasize the purpose of the use of ''kawa'ib'' in verse Q.78:33 "is to highlight the woman’s youthfulness",  though she is an adult, she "has reached the age when she begins to menstruate";<ref name="islamqa.info-1934092">{{cite web |last1=Saalih al-Munajjid |first1=Muhammad (Supervisor) |title=Do the words of Allah, "And full-breasted maidens of equal age (wa kawaa'ib atraaban)" describe the breasts of al-hoor al-'iyn? |url=https://islamqa.info/en/answers/193409/do-the-words-of-allah-and-full-breasted-maidens-of-equal-age-wa-kawaaib-atraaban-describe-the-breasts-of-al-hoor-al-iyn |access-date=4 July 2022 |website=Islam Question and Answer}}</ref> and that she is of the age of "young girls when their breasts are beginning to appear".<ref name="Heleem2" /> At least one person (M Faroof Malik) translates {{langx|ar|قَـٰصِرَٰتُ ٱلطَّرْفِ}} in verse Q.55:56 as "bashful virgins".<ref name="I.A.-55:562">{{cite web |title=Quran 55:65 |url=https://www.islamawakened.com/quran/55/56/ |access-date=4 July 2022 |website=Islam Awakened}}</ref>

==== Meaning of the term ''kawa'ib'' ====
{{undue weight|date=July 2025}}

Verse Q.78:33 describes Houri with the noun ''ka'ib'', translated as "with swelling breasts"<ref>{{Cite quran|78|33|s=ns}}</ref> by several translators—like [[Arthur John Arberry|Arberry]], [[Edward Henry Palmer|Palmer]], [[John Medows Rodwell|Rodwell]] and [[George Sale|Sale]] (it is also translated as "buxom" or "full bosomed").<ref name="IslamAwake-78:332">{{cite web |title=Generally Accepted Translations of the Meaning of Q.78:33 |url=https://www.islamawakened.com/quran/78/33/default.htm |access-date=2 July 2022 |website=Islam Awakened}}</ref> At least two Islamic Fatwa sites (islamweb.net and islamqa.info) have attacked the use of these translations by those who "criticize the Quran",<ref name="islamweb-78:332">{{cite web |date=29 January 2013 |title=Meaning of {Farjaha} in verse 66:12 and {Kawaa'ib} in 78:33 |url=https://www.islamweb.net/en/fatwa/196567/meaning-of-farjaha-in-verse-6612-and-kawaaib-in-7833 |access-date=2 July 2022 |website=Islamweb.net}}</ref> or who "seek to make Islam appear to be a religion of sex and desire".<ref name="breasts-IslamQA2">{{cite web |date=26 October 2016 |title=The description of the breasts of al-hoor al-'iyniyn is a lie and is a fabrication against the texts #243879 |url=https://islamqa.info/en/answers/243879/the-description-of-the-breasts-of-al-hoor-al-iyn-is-a-lie-and-is-a-fabrication-against-the-texts |access-date=2 July 2022 |website=Islam Question and Answer}}</ref>

[[Ibn Kathir]], in his [[tafsir]], writes that ''kawa'ib'' has been interpreted to refer to "fully developed" or "round breasts&nbsp;... they meant by this that the breasts of these girls will be fully rounded and not sagging, because they will be virgins."<ref>{{cite book |author=Ibn Kathir |url=https://archive.org/details/TafsirIbnKathirVolume0110English_201702 |title=Tafsir Ibn Kathir, Abridged, Volume 10 Surat At-Tagabun to the end of the Qur'an |pages=[https://archive.org/details/TafsirIbnKathirVolume0110English_201702/page/n332 333]–334}}</ref> Similarly, the authoritative [[Arabic–English Lexicon]] of [[Edward William Lane]] defines the word ''ka'ib'' as "A girl whose breasts are beginning to swell, or become prominent, or protuberant or having swelling, prominent, or protuberant, breasts".<ref>[http://lexicon.quranic-research.net/data/22_k/112_kEb.html كعب] in Lane's lexicon.</ref>{{#tag:ref|islamweb.net states: "{Kawaa‘ib} means round-breasted";<ref name="islamweb-78:33">{{cite web |title=Meaning of {Farjaha} in verse 66:12 and {Kawaa'ib} in 78:33 |url=https://www.islamweb.net/en/fatwa/196567/meaning-of-farjaha-in-verse-6612-and-kawaaib-in-7833 |website=Islamweb.net |access-date=2 July 2022 |date=29 January 2013}}</ref> and islamqa.info translates Q.78:33 as “And young full-breasted (mature) maidens of equal age”<ref name="breasts-IslamQA">{{cite web |title=The description of the breasts of al-hoor al-'iyniyn is a lie and is a fabrication against the texts #243879 |url=https://islamqa.info/en/answers/243879/the-description-of-the-breasts-of-al-hoor-al-iyn-is-a-lie-and-is-a-fabrication-against-the-texts |website=Islam Question and Answer |access-date=2 July 2022 |date=26 October 2016}}</ref>|group=Note}}

However, [[Muhammad Abdel-Haleem|M. A. S. Abdel Haleem]] and others point out that the description here refers in classical usage to the young age rather than emphasizing the women's physical features.<ref name="Heleem2">{{cite book |author=Haleem, M.A.S. Abdel |author-link=Muhammad Abdel Haleem |url=https://archive.org/details/understandingqur00hale |title=Understanding the Qur'an: Themes and Style |publisher=I.B Tauris |year=2011 |isbn=9781845117894 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/understandingqur00hale/page/n243 235] |chapter=Paradise in the Qur'an |url-access=limited}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |date=29 April 2013 |title=Do the words of Allah, 'And full-breasted maidens of equal age (wa kawaa'ib atraaban)' describe the breasts of al-hoor al-'iyn? |url=https://islamqa.info/en/answers/193409/do-the-words-of-allah-and-full-breasted-maidens-of-equal-age-wa-kawaaib-atraaban-describe-the-breasts-of-al-hoor-al-iyn |access-date=18 February 2020 |work=[[IslamQA]]}}</ref> Others, such as [[Abdullah Yusuf Ali]], translate ''ka'ib'' as "companions",<ref>Abdullah Yusuf Ali: ''The Meanings of the Illustrious Qur'an'', Alminar Books, Houston, TX, 1997</ref> with [[Muhammad Asad]] interpreting the term as being allegorical.<ref>{{cite book |last=Asad |first=M. |author-link=Muhammad Asad |title=[[The Message of The Qur'an]] |year=2003 |chapter=(Surah) 56 [[Al-Waqi'a|Al-Waqiah]], ayah 38}} "As regards my rendering of kawa’ib as 'splendid companions', it is to be remembered that the term&nbsp;... from which it is derived has many meanings&nbsp;... one of these meanings is 'prominence', 'eminence' or 'glory' (Lisan al-Arab)&nbsp;... If we bear in mind that the Qur'anic descriptions of the blessings of paradise are always allegorical, we realize that in the above context the term kawa’ib can have no other meaning than 'glorious [or splendid] beings'."</ref>

== See also ==
{{Portal|Islam|Religion}}
* {{ section link | Islamophobic trope | 72 virgins }}
* {{ annotated link |Apsara}}
* {{ annotated link |Garden of Eden}}
* {{ annotated link |Jannah}}
* {{ annotated link |Maid of Heaven}} (Bahá'í faith)
* {{ annotated link |Peri}}
* {{ annotated link |Women in Islam}}

== References ==

=== Notes ===
<references group="Note"></references>

=== Citations ===
<references ></references>

=== Bibliography ===

* {{cite book |last1=Abdel Haleem |first1=Muhammad |url=https://traditionalhikma.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Abdel-Haleem-Understanding-the-Quran.pdf |title=Understanding the Quran; Themes and Styles |date=1999 |publisher=I.B. Tauris |page=99 |access-date=4 July 2022}}
* {{cite book |last1=Smith |first1=Jane Idleman |last2=Haddad |first2=Yvonne Y. |url=https://vdoc.pub/download/the-islamic-understanding-of-death-and-resurrection-1fa354cla15g |title=The Islamic Understanding of Death and Resurrection |date=1981 |publisher=State University of New York Press |location=Albany |ref=JISYYHIU1981 |doi=10.1093/0195156498.001.0001.002.013 |doi-broken-date=1 July 2025 |access-date=28 February 2025 |isbn=0-87395-506-4}}

== External links ==
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{{Characters and Names in Quran}}
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[[Category:Islamic eschatology]]
[[Category:Female legendary creatures]]
[[Category:Islamic legendary creatures]]
[[Category:Jannah]]
[[Category:Quranic words and phrases]]
[[Category:Women and death]]
[[Category:Islam and women]]
[[Category:Sexuality in Islam]]