23جَنّاتُ عَدنٍ يَدخُلونَها وَمَن صَلَحَ مِن آبائِهِم وَأَزواجِهِم وَذُرِّيّاتِهِم ۖ وَالمَلائِكَةُ يَدخُلونَ عَلَيهِم مِن كُلِّ بابٍMuhammad Asadgardens of perpetual bliss, which they shall enter together with the righteous from among their parents, their spouses, and their offspring;1 and the angels will come unto them from every gate [and will say]:As I have pointed out in several places, the term zawj denotes "a pair" or "a couple" as well as each of the components of a couple - i.e., with reference to human couples, "a spouse": hence it signifies either "husband" or "wife": Similarly, the term aba' (lit., "fathers" or "forefathers") usually denotes both fathers and mothers, i.e., "parents"; and this is, according to Zamakhshari, the meaning in this instance. - As regards the expression 'adn, rendered by me as "perpetual bliss", see note on 38:50, the earliest instance of the Qur'anic use of this term.