In The Radiant Meadow, Mullā Alī al-Qārī (May Allāh have mercy on him) mentions the following narration on the authority of Abū Hurayrah (May Allāh be pleased with him):
The Messenger of Allāh (May space and blessings of Allāh be upon him) said: Allāh, Exalted is He, said, “I prepared for my pious slaves that which no eye has seen, no ear has heard, nor has it occurred to the heart of anyone.”(Reported by Aḥmad [1], Bukhārī [2], Muslim [3], al-Tirmidhī [4], and Ibn Mājah [5].)
The Shaykh then explains:
“Pious slaves: Those who fulfill their duty to Allāh and the creation.
That which no eye….anyone: That which Allāh has prepared for His God-Fearing slaves in Jannah (i.e. of bliss), in reality, is beyond the intellect’s conception, and far removed from what the eyes have seen and the ears have heard. In fact, it is beyond the boundaries of the vision of every intellectual’s mind, and the sight of every eye that sees, and the hearing of every ear that is alert.
Whatever occurs in the mind of a person as a manifestation of those pleasures, or whatever his imagination becomes full of [in that respect], is beyond anything his eyes may fall on, or his ears hear about, and likewise that which Allāh prepared for His slaves in His Jannah is greater and more magnificent.
What is mentioned in the Qur’an and the Prophetic āḥādīth describing the comforts of Jannah with that which is similar to it in this world is only to give the minds an approximation, however the reality is beyond the bounds of description. And we find an allusion to this in His, Exalted is He, statement: “The similitude of the Jannah that was prepared for the God-Fearing: beneath it rivers flow.”(Surah Ra’d, Āyah: 35)
So, in the garden of the Hereafter there are rivers and springs of water, fruits, pomegranates, the meat of birds, milk, honey, bracelets of gold and silver, clothes, couches, spouses, and beautiful blessings, but what a difference between the like of it which we find in this world and what exists in the Hereafter.”
May Allāh make us amongst those who enter Jannah, and may He save us from Jahannam. Āmīn
The Book & Author:
al-Rawḍah al-Bahiyya Fī Sharḥ al-Aḥādīth al-Qudsīyyah al-Arb’iniyyah (The Radiant Meadow: A Commentary on Forty Ḥadīth Qudsī) was written by Mullā Alī al-Qārī, a scholar from Khurasān (modern day Afghanistan). He first studied in his homeland, memorizing the Qur’ān, studying tajwīd, and attending the gatherings of the scholars. Later, he settled in Makkah and studied with the scholars there. He has written in many fields of the Islamic sciences; has a commentary on Mishkah, as well as a commentary of Ibn Hajr’s Nukhba al-Fikr, to name just a few of his works. He was a calligraphist and earned a living with this skill. Mullā Alī al-Qārī died in Shawwāl of the year 1014 A.H. and is buried in Makkah.
[1] Dār al-Ḥadīth, 9:271, #9614; Bayt Afkār al-Dawliyyah, 2:438, #9641
[2] كتاب بدأ الخلق، باب ما جاء في صفة الجنة و أنها مخلوقة
[3] كتاب الجنة و صفة نعيمها و أهلها
[4] أبواب التفسير، سورة السجدة
[5] كتاب الزهد، باب صفة الجنة
