Tafsir of Surah Al-Hijr - Verse 50

Description of the People of Paradise

Since Allah mentioned the condition of the people of Hell, He followed that by mentioning the people of Paradise. He tells us that they will dwell in Gardens and water springs.

ادْخُلُوهَا بِسَلَـمٍ

(Enter it in peace) meaning free of all problems.

ءَامِنِينَ

(and security.) meaning free from all fear and concern. They will not have any fear of expulsion, nor will they fear that their condition will be disrupted or end.

وَنَزَعْنَا مَا فِى صُدُورِهِم مِّنْ غِلٍّ إِخْوَانًا عَلَى سُرُرٍ مُّتَقَـبِلِينَ

(And We shall remove any deep feeling of bitterness from their breasts. (So they will be like) brothers facing each other on thrones.) Al-Qasim narrated that Abu Umamah said: "The people of Paradise will enter Paradise with whatever enmity is left in their hearts from this world. Then, when they come together, Allah will remove whatever hatred the world has left in their hearts." Then he recited:

وَنَزَعْنَا مَا فِى صُدُورِهِم مِّنْ غِلٍّ

(And We shall remove any deep feeling of bitterness from their breasts.) This is how it was narrated in this report, but Al-Qasim bin `Abdur-Rahman is weak in his reports from Abu Umamah. However, this is in accord with the report in the Sahih where Qatadah says, "Abu Al-Mutawakkil An-Naji told us that Abu Sa`id Al-Khudri told them that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:

«يَخْلُصُ الْمُؤْمِنُونَ مِنَ النَّارِ، فَيُحْبَسُونَ عَلَى قَنْطَرَةٍ بَيْنَ الْجَنَّةِ وَالنَّارِ. فَيُقْتَصُّ لِبَعْضِهِمْ مِنْ بَعْضٍ مَظَالِمُ كَانَتْ بَيْنَهُمْ فِي الدُّنْيَا حَتَّى إِذَا هُذِّبُوا وَنُقُّوا، أُذِنَ لَهُمْ فِي دُخُولِ الْجَنَّة»

(The believers will be removed from the Fire, and they will be detained on a bridge between Paradise and Hell. Then judgment will be passed between them concerning any wrong they have committed in this world against one another, until they are cleansed and purified. Then permission will be given to them to enter Paradise.)"

لاَ يَمَسُّهُمْ فِيهَا نَصَبٌ

(No sense of fatigue shall touch them) meaning no harm or hardship, as was reported in the Sahihs:

«أَنَّ اللهَ أَمَرَنِي أَنْ أُبَشِّرَ خَدِيجَةَ بِبَيْتٍ فِي الْجَنَّةِ مِنْ قَصَبٍ لَا صَخَبَ فِيهِ وَلَا نَصَب»

(Allah commanded me to tell Khadijah the good news of a jeweled palace in Paradise in which there will be no toil and no fatigue.)

وَمَا هُمْ مِّنْهَا بِمُخْرَجِينَ

(nor shall they (ever) be asked to leave it.) As was reported in the Hadith:

«يُقَالُ: يَا أَهْلَ الْجَنَّةِ إِنَّ لَكُمْ أَنْ تَصِحُّوا فَلَا تَمْرَضُوا أَبَدًا، وَإِنَّ لَكُمْ أَنْ تَعِيشُوا فَلَا تَمُوتُوا أَبَدًا،وَإِنَّ لَكُمْ أَنْ تَشِبُّوا فَلَا تَهْرَمُوا أَبَدًا، وَإِنَّ لَكُمْ أَنْ تُقِيمُوا فَلَا تَظْعُنُوا أَبَدًا»

(It will be said, O dwellers of Paradise! You will be healthy and never fall sick; you will live and never die; you will be young and never grow old; you will stay here and never leave.) Allah says:

خَـلِدِينَ فِيهَا لاَ يَبْغُونَ عَنْهَا حِوَلاً

(Wherein they shall dwell (forever). They will have no desire to be removed from it.) (18:108)

نَبِّىءْ عِبَادِى أَنِّى أَنَا الْغَفُورُ الرَّحِيمُ - وَأَنَّ عَذَابِى هُوَ الْعَذَابُ الاٌّلِيمُ

(Declare to My servants, that I am truly the Oft-Forgiving, the Most Merciful. And that My torment is indeed the most painful torment.) meaning, `O Muhammad, tell My servants that I am the source of mercy and I am the source of punishment.' Similar Ayat to this have already been quoted above, which indicate that we must always be in a state between hope (for Allah's mercy) and fear (of His punishment).

From verse 48: لَا يَمَسُّهُمْ فِيهَا نَصَبٌ وَمَا هُم مِّنْهَا بِمُخْرَ‌جِينَ (No weariness shall touch them therein nor will they be expelled from there), we learn about two features of Jannah: (1) No one shall ever feel tired or weak. This is contrary to what happens in our mortal world where hard work naturally results in fatigue. In fact, even a state of total rest and fun would sometimes tire a person out, no matter how enjoyable are things one is occupied with. (2) The other feature of Jannah we discover is that the blessings once received there shall be eternal. These blessings shall never diminish nor shall anyone be expelled from there. In Surah Sad, it was said:إِنَّ هَـٰذَا لَرِ‌زْقُنَا مَا لَهُ مِن نَّفَادٍ (This is sustenance provided by Us which is never to exhaust - 38:54). And in the present verse, it was said: وَمَا هُم مِّنْهَا بِمُخْرَ‌جِينَ (nor will they be expelled from there) that is, they shall never be deprived of the state of bliss bestowed upon them. This is contrary to the affairs of the mortal world where the recipient of the best of conveniences lives under the apprehension that the Over of the facilities may become displeased with him one of those days and expel him out.

As for the third probability, that the blessings of Jannah may remain everlasting, nor one is expelled from there, but one may himself get bored by living there and wish to go out, the Qur’ an has demolished this probability in one sentence of Surah Al-Kahf with the following words: لَا يَبْغُونَ عَنْهَا حِوَلًا (That is, these people too would never seek to return from there - 18:108).

The life of Paradise will be a life without fear. Only those who were mindful of God in this world will be considered eligible for this life. The fear of God in the present world is the price of a life without fear in the Hereafter. Mutual ill-will is of two types: one is due to arrogance and the other is due to misunderstanding. Engendering ill-will or enmity out of sheer arrogance is the greatest social evil. The people of the Faith should put an end to it in this very world itself. Those who do not do so incur the risk of Hell in the Hereafter. The type of ill-will which occurs due to misunderstanding, sometimes comes to an end, but sometimes, in spite of sincerity on both sides, continues till the very end. This second type of ill-will will completely end in the Hereafter, because the Hereafter is the world where realities are laid completely bare. When all the realities are unveiled before a sincere man, he will have no further reason to entertain feelings of ill-will against his brother. The life of Paradise is so aesthetic and refined that one cannot imagine it in the present world. However, the pleasures and luxuries of the present world are a preliminary introduction to the ensuing world of pleasures and luxuries. When this introduction to Paradise is so pleasing, one can imagine how pleasing Paradise itself is going to be. A man may accumulate all kinds of pleasure-giving things and luxuries in the world; but even then, various kinds of unpleasantness make all his accumulation meaningless. Paradise, however, is a place where pleasures and luxuries will be free of all unpleasantness. It is recorded in a tradition of the Prophet Muhammad that the people of Paradise will be told, ‘Now, you will always be healthy and will never be ill; now, you will be alive for ever and will never die; now you will always be young and you will never grow old; now you will always be here and you will never have to leave this place.’