Tafsir of Surah Maryam - Verse 62

The Description of the Gardens of the Truthful and Those Who repent

Allah, the Exalted, says that the Gardens (of Paradise), which the penitent will enter, will be Gardens of `Adn, meaning, eternity. These are Gardens that the Most Beneficent promises His servants in the unseen. This means that these Gardens are from the unseen things that they believe in, even though they have never witnessed them. They believe in the unseen out of their strong conviction and the strength of their faith. Concerning Allah's statement,

إِنَّهُ كَانَ وَعْدُهُ مَأْتِيّاً

(Verily, His promise must come to pass.) This affirms the fact that this will occur, and that it is a settled matter. Allah does not break His promise, nor does He change it. This is similar to His statement,

كَانَ وَعْدُهُ مَفْعُولاً

(His promise is certainly to be accomplished.) 73:18 This means that His promise will be and there is no avoiding it. Allah's statement here,

مَأْتِيّاً

(must come to pass.) This means that it will come to His servants who are striving towards it and they will reach it. There are those commentators who said,

مَأْتِيّاً

(must come to pass.) "This means it is coming, because everything that comes to you, you also come to it. This is as the Arabs say, `Fifty years came to me, and I came to fifty years.' They both mean the same thing (I'm fifty years old)." Concerning Allah's statement,

لاَّ يَسْمَعُونَ فِيهَا لَغْواً

(They shall not hear therein any Laghw.) This means that in these gardens of Paradise there is no ignorant, wasteful and useless speech, like there is in this life. He said,

إِلاَّ سَلَـماً

(...but only Salam.) This is an indifferent exception, similar to Allah's statement,

لاَ يَسْمَعُونَ فِيهَا لَغْواً وَلاَ تَأْثِيماً - إِلاَّ قِيلاً سَلَـماً سَلَـماً

(No Laghw will they hear therein, nor any sinful speech. But only the saying of: Salam! Salam!) 56:25-26 Concerning His statement,

وَلَهُمْ رِزْقُهُمْ فِيهَا بُكْرَةً وَعَشِيّاً

(And they will have therein their sustenance, morning and afternoon.) This means, in what is similar to mornings and evenings. This does not mean that there is a night and a day (in Paradise), but they will be living in times that alternate. They will know its lighted times from its lights and illumination. This is as Imam Ahmad recorded from Abu Hurayrah, who said that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said,

«أَوَّلُ زُمْرَةٍ تَلِجُ الْجَنَّةَ صُوَرُهُمْ عَلَى صُورَةِ الْقَمَرِ لَيْلَةَ الْبَدْرِ لَا يَبْصُقُونَ فِيهَا،وَلَا يَتَمَخَّطُونَ فِيهَا. وَلَايَتَغَوَّطُونَ، آنِيَتُهُمْ وَأَمْشَاطُهُمُ الذَّهَبُ وَالْفِضَّةُ وَمَجَامِرُهُمُ الْأَلُوَّةُ، وَرَشْحُهُمُ الْمِسْكُ وَلِكُلِّ وَاحِدٍ مِنْهُمْ زَوْجَتَانِ، يُرَى مُخُّ سَاقِهَا مِنْ وَرَاءِ اللَّحْمِ مِنَ الْحُسْنِ، لَا اخْتِلَافَ بَيْنَهُمْ وَلَا تَبَاغُضَ، قُلُوبُهُمْ عَلَى قَلْبِ رَجُلٍ وَاحِدٍ، يُسَبِّحُونَ اللهَ بُكْرَةً وَعَشِيًّا»

(The first group to enter into Paradise will have forms like the form of the moon on a night when it is full. They will not spit, nor will they blow their noses therein. They also will not defecate. Their containers and combs will be made of gold and silver and their censers will be of aloeswood. Their sweat will be the fragrance of musk and each of them will have two wives. The marrow of their shins will be visible from beneath the skin due to their beauty. They will not have any disputes between them, or any hatred. Their hearts will be united like the heart of one man. They will glorify Allah in the morning and evening.) Al-Bukhari and Muslim both recorded this narration in the Two Sahihs. Imam Ahmad also recorded that Ibn `Abbas said that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said,

«الشُّهَدَاءُ عَلَى بَارِقِ نَهْرٍ بِبَابِ الْجَنَّةِ فِي قُبَّةٍ خَضْرَاءَ، يَخْرُجُ عَلَيْهِمْ رِزْقُهُمْ مِنَ الْجَنَّةِ بُكْرَةً وَعَشِيًّا»

(The martyrs will be upon the banks of a river by the gates of Paradise. Over them will be a green dome. Their sustenance will be brought out to them from Paradise, morning and evening.) Ahmad is the only one who collected this narration. Ad-Dahhak reported that Ibn `Abbas said,

وَلَهُمْ رِزْقُهُمْ فِيهَا بُكْرَةً وَعَشِيّاً

(And they will have therein their sustenance, morning and afternoon.) "This means the amount of time equal to night and day." Allah said,

تِلْكَ الْجَنَّةُ الَّتِى نُورِثُ مِنْ عِبَادِنَا مَن كَانَ تَقِيّاً

(Such is the Paradise which We shall give as an inheritance to those of Our servants who had Taqwa.) This means, `This Paradise that We have described with these magnificent attributes, it is that which We will cause are pious servants to inherit.' They are those who obey Allah in happiness and times of hardship. They are those who suppress their anger and they pardon people's offenses. This is as Allah says at the beginning of Surah Al-Mu'minun,

قَدْ أَفْلَحَ الْمُؤْمِنُونَ - الَّذِينَ هُمْ فِى صَلاَتِهِمْ خَـشِعُونَ

(Successful indeed are the believers. Those who are humble in their Salah.) 23:1-2 Until His saying,

أُوْلَـئِكَ هُمُ الْوَرِثُونَ - الَّذِينَ يَرِثُونَ الْفِرْدَوْسَ هُمْ فِيهَا خَـلِدُونَ

(These are indeed the inheritors. Who shall inherit the Firdaws. In it they shall dwell forever.) 23:10-11

لَّا يَسْمَعُونَ فِيهَا لَغْوًا إِلَّا سَلَامًا

"They will not hear anything absurd therein but a word of peace." - 19:62.

(لَغو) means idle, absurd, frivolous and abusive talk, which will not reach the ears of good people who have been admitted to Paradise.

إِلَّا سَلَامًا means that whatever one will hear in Paradise will add to his happiness, peace and tranquility. It includes the customary greetings (سَلَام), which the dwellers of Paradise will exchange among themselves and the angels of God will offer them all. (Qurtubi)

وَلَهُمْ رِ‌زْقُهُمْ فِيهَا بُكْرَ‌ةً وَعَشِيًّا

"And there they will have their provisions at morn and eve." - 19:62.

There will be no solar system in the Paradise and hence no rising or setting of the sun, but there will be a perpetual radiance. There will also be some way of telling day from night and morning from evening. Within this distinction between morning and evening the Paradise dwellers will receive their meals. It goes without saying that the wishes of the Paradise dwellers will be fulfilled forthwith وَلَهُم مَّا يَشْتَهُونَ - and for themselves, there is what they desire - 16:57). This is a general announcement. Hence, mention of morning and evening is because of people's habit to eat and drink in the morning and in the evening. According to an Arab saying, anyone who gets a full meal morning and evening is comfortable and at peace.

Sayyidna Anas Ibn Malik ؓ ، said after reciting this verse that it shows that the believers have their meals twice a day, one in the morning and the other in the evening.

Some scholars have explained that mention of morning and the evening is a general expression, like day and night or east and west, which does not specify any particular time or place. Therefore, it means that they (Paradise dwellers) will get their provisions according to their choice at any time they like. (Only God knows best) (Qurtubi)

This world being a place of trial, everyone has been given freedom. Here, those who perform good deeds are free and those who indulge in bad deeds are free too. Consequently, a true and righteous person never knows tranquillity in the present world. However righteous he may personally be, the fact that the unrighteous people take undue advantage of their freedom, and taint the surrounding atmosphere with ungodliness, constantly disturbs his peace of mind. Paradise is a place from which all such wrongdoers will be excluded. There, only those noble persons will be lodged who have proved in this world that they do not live like thorns, but know how to live like flowers. A life shaped in the proximity of such people will undoubtedly be a haven of eternal peace—a paradise. In this world, the hardest task is to abstain from vain pursuits and to lead one’s life as an embodiment of peace. To this end, one has, of one’s own free will, to change a life of freedom into a life of limitations. This is the most difficult sacrifice, which can be offered only by one who is truly God-fearing. Only those who fear God in this world can feel themselves to be accountable to God. They are the only ones who will be admitted to the eternal paradise of the Hereafter.