26فَكُلي وَاشرَبي وَقَرّي عَينًا ۖ فَإِمّا تَرَيِنَّ مِنَ البَشَرِ أَحَدًا فَقولي إِنّي نَذَرتُ لِلرَّحمٰنِ صَومًا فَلَن أُكَلِّمَ اليَومَ إِنسِيًّاMuhammad AsadEat, then, and drink, and let thine eye be gladdened! And if thou shouldst see any human being, convey this unto him:1 'Behold, abstinence from speech have I vowed unto the Most Gracious; hence, I may not speak today to any mortal.'"2Lit., "say" - but since actual speech would contradict what follows, the "saying" implies here a communication by gestures.In its primary sense, the term sawm denotes "abstinence" or "self-denial"; in the present context it is synonymous with samt ("abstinence from speech"); in fact - as pointed out by Zamakhshari - the latter term is said to have figured in the Qur'an - copy belonging to 'Abd Allah ibn Mas'ad (possibly as a marginal, explanatory notation).