49كَأَنَّهُنَّ بَيضٌ مَكنونٌMuhammad Asad[as free of faults] as if they were hidden [ostrich] eggs.1This is an ancient Arabian figure of speech derived from the habit of the female ostrich, which buries its eggs in the sand for protection (Zamakhshari). Its particular application to the women who attain to paradise becomes clear from 56:34 ff., which states that all righteous women, irrespective of their age and condition at the time of death, will be resurrected as beautiful maidens.