Al-Qur'an Surah As-Saffat Verse 49

Mufti Taqi Usmani

as if they were eggs hidden (under feathers, protected from pollution).

Dr. Mustafa Khattab, the Clear Quran

as if they were pristine pearls.[[ ‘Baiḍun maknûn’ can also mean spotless eggs. ]] 

Ruwwad Translation Center

as if they were well-protected eggs.

A. J. Arberry

as if they were hidden pearls.

Abdul Haleem

like protected eggs.

Abdul Majid Daryabadi

As though they were eggs hidden.

Abdullah Yusuf Ali

As if they were (delicate) eggs closely guarded.

Abul Ala Maududi

so delicate as the hidden peel under an egg's shell.

Ahmed Ali

Like sheltered eggs in a nest.

Ahmed Raza Khan

As if they were eggs, safely hidden.

Ali Quli Qarai

as if they were hidden ostrich eggs.

Ali Ünal

(As free from any ugliness, and) untouched, as if they were hidden (ostrich) eggs.

Amatul Rahman Omar

Just as though they were eggs carefully guarded (- of pure and unsoiled character).

English Literal

As though they are (F) protected/covered whites/eggs.

Faridul Haque

As if they were eggs, safely hidden.

Hamid S. Aziz

As if they were delicate eggs carefully protected.

Hilali & Khan

(Delicate and pure) as if they were (hidden) eggs (well) preserved.

Maulana Mohammad Ali

And with them are those modest in gaze, having beautiful eyes,

Mohammad Habib Shakir

As if they were eggs carefully protected.

Mohammed Marmaduke William Pickthall

(Pure) as they were hidden eggs (of the ostrich).

Muhammad Sarwar

who are as chaste as sheltered eggs.

Qaribullah & Darwish

as if they were hidden pearls.

Safi-ur-Rahman al-Mubarakpuri

as if they were Bayd Maknun.

Wahiduddin Khan

like closely guarded pearls.

Talal Itani

As if they were closely guarded pearls.

Tafsir jalalayn

as if they were, in terms of [the starkness of their white] colour, hidden eggs, of ostriches, sheltered by their feathers from dust, the colour being that whiteness with a hint of pallor, which is the most beautiful of female complexions.

Tafseer Ibn Kathir

as if they were Bayd Maknun.

Their bodies are described as having the most perfect color.

Ali bin Abi Talhah reported that Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him;
كَأَنَّهُنَّ بَيْضٌ مَّكْنُونٌ
(as if they were Bayd Maknun),

means, as if they were hidden pearls.

Al-Hasan said;
كَأَنَّهُنَّ بَيْضٌ مَّكْنُونٌ
(as if they were Bayd Maknun),

means, "protected, never touched by any hands."

As-Suddi said,

"The well preserved egg in its nest."

Sa`id bin Jubayr said;
كَأَنَّهُنَّ بَيْضٌ مَّكْنُونٌ
(as if they were Bayd Maknun), means,

"The inside of the egg."

Ata' Al-Khurasani said,

"It is the membrane which is between its outer shell and its inner contents."

As-Suddi said;
كَأَنَّهُنَّ بَيْضٌ مَّكْنُونٌ
(as if they were Bayd Maknun) means,

"The white of the egg when its shell is removed."

Ibn Jarir's view concerning the meaning of Maknun (well preserved) is,

"the outer shell is touched by the wing of the bird and the nest, and by people's hands, unlike the interior of the egg. And Allah knows best.