In Islamic religious belief, houris (Pronounced ; from ), are women with beautiful eyes who are described as a reward for the faithful Muslim believers in Paradise. The term is used four times in the Quran, where they are mentioned indirectly several other times, (sometimes as azwāj, lit. companions), and Hadith provide a "great deal of later elaboration". They have been said to have "captured the imagination of Muslims and non-Muslims alike". Muslim scholars differ as to whether they refer to the believing women of this world or a separate creation, with the majority opting for the latter. Etymology In classical Arabic usage, the word ḥūr () is the plural of both ʾaḥwar () (masculine) and ḥawrāʾ () (feminine) which can be translated as "having eyes with an intense contrast of white and black". The word "houri" has entered several European languages from around the 17th and 18th centuries. Arthur Jeffery and other scholars suggests an Iranian origin for the term, proposing the origins of the word to be the Middle Persian hū̆rust 'well grown.' The 9th century Ardā Wirāz Nāmag, depicts maidens as hū̆rust ‘well grown’, with frāz pēstān ‘prominent breasts’, dēr... angušt ‘long fingers’ and hū̆ dōšagtar nigērišn abāyišnīgtar ‘a most pleasing and fitting appearance’. Many of these traits are also mentioned in the Islamic tradition. In Sūrah 78: 33, we see the utilization of adjectives such as kawā‘iba atrāban ‘full-breasted [companions] of equal age’ when describing the ḥūr. The Ardā Wirāz Nāmag (and the Avestan texts) specifies the “sweet smell” emitted from the maidens in the afterlife, even this trait is brought forth by the Hadith transmitter Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī 52: 53, ‘And if a houri [in the text: amratan] from Paradise appeared to the people of the earth, she would fill the space between Heaven and the Earth with light and pleasant scent and her head cover is better than the world and whatever is in it.” Descriptions The houris are mentioned in several passages of the Quran, always in plural form. No specific number is ever given in the Quran for the number of houris accompanying each believer. Quranic description In the tafsirs and commentaries on the Quran, Houris are described as: 36:55 "Companions", 37:48 "with large and beautiful eyes", 38:52 "companions of modest gaze well matched 44:54 wide and beautiful eyes", 52:20 "beautiful houris of wide and beautiful eyes", 55:56 "untouched beforehand by man or