earthly wives plus seventy or more of the ḥūr". Verses that are thought to refer to women from earth in paradise (Q.2:25, 3:15, and 4:57) talk of "purified companions" [azwāj muṭahhara''], which distinguishes them from ḥūr, who are by definition "pure rather than purified". Symbolism Muhammad Asad believes that the references to houris and other depictions of paradise should be taken to be allegorical rather than literal, citing the "impossibility of man's really 'imagining' paradise". In support of this view he quotes Quran verse 32:17 and a hadith found in Bukhari and Muslim. Shi'ite philosopher Muhammad Husayn Tabatabai mentions that the most important fact of the description of the houris is that good deeds performed by believers are re-compensated by the houris, who are the physical manifestations of ideal forms that will not fade away over time and who will serve as faithful companions to those whom they accompany. Similarities to other religions The houri has been said to resemble afterlife figures in a Zoroastrianism and Hindu narratives: The Zoroastrian text, Hadhoxt Nask, describes the fate of a soul after death. The soul of the righteous spends three nights near the corpse, and at the end of the third night, the soul sees its own religion (daena) in the form of a beautiful damsel, a lovely fifteen year-old virgin; thanks to good actions she has grown beautiful; they then ascend heaven together. Hindu stories include "Apsarasas", described as "seductive celestial nymphs who dwell in Indra's paradise," and among other things "the rewards in Indra's paradise held out to heroes who fall in battle." On the other hand, John MacDonald writes that "the origin" of Huri "is unknown. Attempts to trace the development of the belief back to Indian or Persian religion have not been successful." See also Apsara Garden of Eden Jannah Maid of Heaven (Bahá'í faith) Peri Women in Islam References Notes Citations Bibliography Islamic eschatology Female legendary creatures Islamic legendary creatures Jannah Quranic words and phrases Women and death Islam and women Sexuality in Islam