Some Qualities of People of Paradise

Society Religion & Philosophy
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**‎"Those who say, Our Lord, indeed we have believed, so forgive us our sins and protect us from the punishment of the Fire. The patient, the true, the obedient, those who spend [in the way of Allaah ], and those who seek forgiveness before dawn."

(Surah Ali-Imran, Ayah: 16,17)

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Re: Some Qualities of People of Paradise

Peace mur009,

Please explain how the above Ayah related to those poeples of Paradise.

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Re: Some Qualities of People of Paradise

you need to look at couple of previous Ayahs to relate these two ayahs to the people of paradise.

Ayah 14: Beautified for people is the love of that which they desire - of women and sons, heaped-up sums of gold and silver, fine branded horses, and cattle and tilled land. That is the enjoyment of worldly life, but Allah has with Him the best return.

Ayah 15: Say, Shall I inform you of [something] better than that? For those who fear Allah will be gardens in the presence of their Lord beneath which rivers flow, wherein they abide eternally, and purified spouses and approval from Allah . And Allah is Seeing of [His] servants -

Ayah 16: Those who say, Our Lord, indeed we have believed, so forgive us our sins and protect us from the punishment of the Fire,

Ayah 17: The patient, the true, the obedient, those who spend [in the way of Allah ], and those who seek forgiveness before dawn.

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Re: Some Qualities of People of Paradise

Peace mur009,

:jazak: I’ll try to write short details of the above ayah i.e 14, 15, 16 and 17 and hope that u will explain these ayahs in details.

Surah Al-Imran verse 14: The pleasure of this world are first enumerated: women for love; sons for strength and pride; hoarded riches, which procure all luxuriesl the best and finest pedigree horses; cattle, the measure of wealth in the ancient world, as well as the means and symbols of good farming in the modern world; and broad acres of well-tilled land. By analogy we may include, for our mechanised age, machines of all kinds, tractors, motor-cars, aeroplanes, the best internal combustion engines etc., etc. In “heaped-up hoards of gold and silver,” the Arabic word translated **hoards **is qanatir, plural of **qintar **, which literally means a Talent (uwqiyah) of **1,200 **ounces of gold. That quantity of pure gold would coin into 5,097 sterlings gold sovereigns, each containing 123-274 grains of gold 22 carats fine. Therefore heaped hoards of qanatir would be boundless wealth “as wish as claim”.

Its narrated from Abu Hurayrah r.a. that The **qintar **is twelve thousand uwqiyah, each uwqiyah is better than what is between the heavens and earth. The last line of this Ayah i.e. “But Allah has with Hime the best return” means the best destination and rewards.

Surah Al-Imran verse 15: [similar to verse 2:25] This is the antithesis to the last verse. If fire is the symbol of punishment, the Garden is the symbol of felicity and what can be more delightful than a Garden where you (those who have Taqwa) observe from a picturesque height a beautiful landscape round you? Rivers flowing with crystal water and fruit trees of which the choicest fruit is before you. The fruit of goodness is goodness, similar but choicer in every degree of ascent. You think it is the same, but it is because of your past experiences and associations of memory. Then there is companionship. If sex is suggested, its physcial associations are at once negatived by the addition of the word ‘Mutahharatun, pure and holy’. The arabic epithet is in the intensive form, and must be translated by two adjectives denoting purity in the highest degree. The companionship is that of souls and applies to both sexes in the physical world of men and women. And this felicity is not a mere passing phase but will abide beyond the realms of Time.

Surah Al-Imran verse 16: Those who say; “Our Lord! We have indeed believed,” in You, Your Book and Your Messenger. So forgive us our sins, because of our faith in You and in what You legislated for us. Therefore, forgive us our errors and shortcomings, with Your bounty and mercy, and save us from the punishment of the Fire.

Surah Al-Imran verse 17: Sabr (Sabirin) includes many shades of meaning [See Surah Al Baqarah verse 45 & 153]: specified as three here., viz., patience, firmness, and self-control. It is impossible to comprehend in one English word. It implies:

  1. Patience in the sense of being throughout, not hasty
  2. Patient perserverance, constancy, steadfastness, firmness of purpose
  3. Systematic as opposed to spasmodic or chance action
  4. A cheerful attitude of resignation and understanding in sorrow, defeat, or suffiering, as opposed to murmuring or rebellion, but saved from mere passivity of listlessness by the element of constancy or steadfastness.

An additional meaning implies in Sabr is self-restraint. Haqqani defines it in his Tafsir as following Reason and restraining Fear, Anger and Desire. What can be a higher reward for patience, persseverance, self-restraint and constancy than that God should be with us? for this promise opens the door to every kind of spiritual well-being.

True servants of God are described above in both ayahs (16 and 17). They have faith, humility, and hope (16); and they have certain virtues:

  1. Patience, steadfastness, self-restraint, and all that goes under the full definition of Sab; this shown a certain attitude of mind
  2. In all their dealings they are true and sincere as they are also in their promises and words; this marks them out in social conduct
  3. Further, their spiritual worship is earnest and deep, an inner counterpart of their outward conduct
  4. Their worship of God shown itself in their love of their fellow-men, for they are ready and liberal in charity, and
  5. Their self-discipline is so great that the first thing they do every morning is humbly to approach their God.

*References:
Text Translation & Commentary by
A. Yusuf Ali & Ibn-e-Katheer
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