Tafsir Surat al-Kawthar - The Quran Blog - Enlighten Yourself

One point worth considering here is that the common rule is that both the qualifiednoun and its attribute are mentioned together, but here, it is in opposition to that.‘al-Kawthar’ which is an attribute, is stated, but its descriptive noun is not. Whatlogic can there be behind this?Scholars say that if AllÁh had bestowed only one [particular] item to HisMessenger [] in such (limitless and immeasurable) ‘Kawthar’ , then that would havebeen mentioned; if it were a number of articles then their mention would have beenformally made, but the situation here is that whatsoever He [] gave, He did sowithout bound and beyond measure – what is there to mention and what is therenot. Thus, He [] states the attribute but leaves out the qualified noun dependanton the comprehension of the reader. In other words, ‘O’ Beloved [The bountieswhich I have bestowed upon you, they are limitless and inestimable – knowledge,serenity, generosity and benignity, in short, those nobilities which AllÁh hadattributed to His Beloved [], that is an ocean without shore, the extent of whichnone can reach.Exegetes have quoted many statements with respect to the exegesis of ‘al-Kawthar’, ofwhich the following are a few:1. Kawthar is that river of Paradise whence originate all other rivers ofParadise, and that which AllÁh has bestowed upon His Beloved [].2. It was related by Ibn ‘Umar [] who said, that the Messenger of AllÁh said:‘al-kawtharu nahrun fi ’l-jannati ÎÁfitÁhu min dhahabin wamajrÁhu Ýala ’l-durri wa ’l-yÁqÙt, turbatuhÙ aÔyabu mina ’l-misk,wa mÁ’u-hÙ aÎlÁ mina ’l-Ýasli wa abyaÃu mina’l-thalj.’‘The Beloved Messenger [] said that al-Kawthar is a river inParadise, its banks are of gold and its bed is of pearls andrubies, its earth is more aromatic than musk, and its water issweeter than honey and more pellucid than ice.’ 233. [Kawthar] is the name of that cistern, in the Plain of Resurrection, bywhich the Beloved Messenger [] will satiate the thirsty ones from hisUmmah. Its banks of which are laden with such a numerous amountgoblets as there are stars in the sky, so that none who is thirsty wouldhave to bear the inconvenience of waiting.MutawÁtir ÎadÐths 24 have been reported with respect to this cistern andScholars have also stated:‘wa inna ÝalÁ arkÁni-hÁ ’l-arbaÝah khulafÁ’ahu ’l-arbaÝah ’23 Muslim, TirmidhÐ24 prophetic traditions which have been reported by such a large number of people that theycannot be expected to agree, unanimously, upon a lie.