Surah Al-Waqi'ah 56:17
سُورَةُ الوَاقِعَةِ · Meccan · Verse 17 of 96
يَطُوفُ عَلَيْهِمْ وِلْدَٰنٌۭ مُّخَلَّدُونَ
Translation
everlasting youths will go round among them
English translation: M.A.S. Abdel Haleem.
Meaning and reflection
'Immortal youths circulate among them.' al-Saadi and Ibn Ashur note 'wildan mukhalladun', ageless servers who never grow old or falter, attending the people of Paradise perpetually, their youth and service never diminishing. Ask yourself: everything that serves me here wears out, helpers tire, comforts break down, even the young age. This verse pictures service that never decays, given by those who never weary. It points, beneath the image, to a world where nothing runs down, nothing ages toward loss. The relentless entropy I live under, the sense that everything good is slowly winding down, is not the final law. In the Gardens, even the servers are 'immortal'. What in me is exhausted by the constant winding-down of things, and secretly longing for a world that doesn't decay?
Grounded in classical tafsir: al-Saadi, Ibn Ashur, al-Biqa'i.
Topics that discuss this verse
Surah Al-Waqi'ah 56:17 is discussed in 6 study guides on Maani. Each guide gathers the key verses, Arabic words and lessons of one Quranic topic.
Reflect on this verse
Open Surah Al-Waqi'ah 56:17 in Maani to reflect on it through the Five Lenses: its wording, its context, what it means for you, its connections across the Quran and its lessons, grounded in classical tafsir.