In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
It is Paradise.
The eternal abode of the people of Paradise.
Praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds.
And may the peace and blessings of Allah be upon our Prophet Muhammad.
And upon all his family and companions.
To proceed:
O people of Paradise,
You are now the guests of the Most Merciful.
And the right of a guest is to be honored.
Behold, the angels are here to welcome us with congratulations.
Then, they present to us the gift of the guest.
It is the extra portion of the whale’s liver.
It is a small piece,
Attached to the top of the liver,
And it is the most delicious part of the whale.
It is the first food we shall taste in Paradise.
This whale is from Paradise itself.
The extra portion of its liver suffices all the people of Paradise.
Once we have tasted this meal,
And our stomachs are refreshed by this wholesome food,
Then the ox is slaughtered for us,
Which grazes on the outskirts of Paradise.
It is then presented to us in the finest manner,
Of hospitality and generosity.
We eat from it and drink alongside it,
From the water of Salsabil.
And we hear a beautiful call that delights our souls:
"Eat and drink in satisfaction."
“(And it will be said unto those therein): Eat and drink at ease for that which ye sent on before you in past days.” (69:24)
Yes, O people of Paradise,
Eat of every delicious food,
And drink of every delightful beverage,
A complete and perfect satisfaction,
Without any impurity or distress.
This is your reward,
For what you sent forth in the fleeting days of the world,
Of righteous deeds:
Prayer, fasting, and charity,
Hajj and Umrah,
And kindness toward creation.
For Allah made deeds a cause for entering Paradise,
The substance of its bliss,
And the foundation of its happiness.
O people of Paradise,
You do not drink because of thirst,
For there is no thirst after it ever again.
Likewise, you do not eat because of hunger,
Rather, these are successive pleasures,
And continuous desires,
Without sin or reproach.
Did Allah the Almighty not say:
"Indeed, it is [promised] for you not to be hungry therein,
Nor to be unclothed,
And that you will not be thirsty therein, nor hot from the sun"?
One of us might see a bird in Paradise,
And desire it without being hungry,
So the bird comes to him roasted,
In the most delicious state,
On a platter of gold.
And the birds of Paradise, O brothers of faith,
Are like the Bactrian camels,
Long-necked creatures,
Grazing among the trees of Paradise.
Blessed is he who eats from them.
In Paradise, there are also lote trees (Sidr),
Which you surely recognize.
In this world, they are full of thorns,
But in Paradise, as Allah the Almighty said of them:
"Among lote trees with thorns removed,"
Its thorns have been removed and cleared away,
And in the place of every thorn,
There is a fruit from the fruits of Paradise.
The fruit is larger than great jars.
We also have in Paradise the layered banana trees (Talh),
Which are the bananas,
Stacked one upon another,
In an orderly fashion,
From top to bottom,
So that you can barely see the trunk of the tree.
We also have therein every kind of fruit,
Which may resemble in shape and color,
Those of the world, yet differ in taste and flavor.
As Allah the Almighty informed us:
"Whenever they are provided with a provision,
Of the fruit thereof,"
“And give glad tidings (O Muhammad) unto those who believe and do good works; that theirs are Gardens underneath which rivers flow; as often as they are regaled with food of the fruit thereof, they say: this is what was given us aforetime; and it is given to them in resemblance. There for them are pure companions; there for ever they abide.” (2:25)
Meaning in the world,
Allah says: "They will say, 'This is what we were provided with before,'
And they will be given things in likeness."
Resembling one another in appearance and color,
But differing in taste.
We have in Paradise the Ajwa date,
For the Ajwa is from the dates of Paradise.
But when this date descended,
From Paradise to the world,
Its color and taste changed,
Just as the Black Stone and the Yemeni Corner changed,
When they descended from Paradise,
Allah dimmed their light, and they were altered.
O my companions,
We have whatever fruit we desire,
It is never cut off from us,
At any time whatsoever,
As it is cut off in the world,
Like summer fruit in winter,
Or winter fruit in summer.
Nor is it forbidden,
As the fruits of the world are forbidden,
To many who desire them,
Due to their high price.
But in Paradise, if one of us desires it,
It falls into his mouth,
Or draws near to him until he takes it with his hand.
We eat of its fruits while standing,
Sitting, or reclining,
In whatever state we wish.
Did Allah the Almighty not say:
"Its fruit will be low and easy to reach"?
It descends to the believing servant,
So he may pick from it whatever he wishes.
We also have in Paradise date palms, grapes, and pomegranates,
And although they are among the fruits of Paradise,
Allah the Almighty singled them out,
By mentioning them to praise and honor them.
We have of every fruit two kinds,
Meaning two varieties,
Each variety having a delight and color,
That the other does not possess.
A single cluster of them,
Is enough food for all the people of the world.
And know, my brothers, also,
Just as the people of Paradise do not hunger,
They also do not become full.
Its food and shade are perpetual.
So be at ease; you will not be satiated therein,
For satiety is harmful and heavy.
No matter how much you eat,
There will always be room to eat more.
Because if you were to become full,
The pleasure of food would cease for you,
Even for a while.
And there is no cessation of pleasures in Paradise.
What you eat will exit by way of,
Perspiration and sweat that smells like musk,
And room will remain in the stomach,
So that you may enjoy more,
Without interruption or fullness,
Or illness or pain.
Our drink in Paradise is of the best,
Of drinks and the most delicious.
From a sealed nectar,
Nothing enters it to diminish its pleasure,
Or spoil its taste.
Its seal is musk, meaning its end,
Usually, what is poured is musk.
We pass the cups among ourselves,
And the goblets of wine circulate among us,
Wine not like the wine of the world,
Nor does it resemble it in any way.
Its color is white, one of the most beautiful colors,
And its taste is a delight for the drinkers.
It has no effect on the mind,
There is no idle talk in it,
It does not remove the intellect,
Nor is there any sin upon the one who drinks it.
These cups are filled and successive,
As Allah the Almighty recounted regarding them,
In His Noble Book, saying:
"And full cups."
One of us, the people of Paradise, desires a drink,
From the drink of Paradise,
So the pitcher comes to him until it falls into his hand,
He drinks from it,
Then the pitcher returns to its place.
And at other times,
Immortal youths circulate among them,
With cups, pitchers, and goblets,
Containing the drink of Paradise,
That they desire.
And truthful is Allah who says:
“Lo! the righteous shall drink of a cup whereof the mixture is of Kafur,” (76:5)
"Whose mixture is of camphor."
Where the servants of Allah drink,
They make it flow in streams.
And you shall be adorned, O people of Paradise,
Therein with various ornaments.
Sometimes with bracelets of silver,
Sometimes with bracelets of gold,
Sometimes with bracelets of pearls,
And sometimes with gold studded with pearls.
Sometimes the ornaments are gathered for them,
Sometimes the ornaments are gathered for them,
So they wear bracelets of gold,
And bracelets of silver,
And bracelets of pearls all at once.
These ornaments,
Have an intense light,
So if a man from the people of Paradise were to appear,
And his bracelets were revealed,
They would dim the light of the sun.
Your adornment shall reach
to the extent that your wudu reached.
Whoever performs wudu perfectly,
his adornment in Paradise shall be more profound.
Upon your heads shall be crowns
from the crowns of Paradise.
And in the crown, there is a jewel,
a single ruby of which is better than the world
and all that is within it.
And while we are in this state of bliss,
some people from among us shall arise,
and they shall clothe their parents in two garments
of the most magnificent attire,
for which the entire world cannot compensate them.
They will ask, "For what have we been clothed
in these garments?"
It will be said to them, "Because your child took
to the Qur'an."
Marvel then at the napkins of the people of Paradise,
which they use and then cast aside,
without a second thought.
These napkins in Paradise
are better than the finest silk of this world.
Among the items of adornment in Paradise
are combs and incense burners.
We shall have combs of gold and silver
to comb our hair,
even though it shall neither become disheveled nor dirty.
We shall perfume ourselves with fragrant oud,
even though the scent of musk
shall emanate from our very bodies.
Our censers, in which the embers are placed,
shall be for incense made of aloe wood,
which is Indian oud.
All of this is of the same nature as the blessings
that we used to see in this world.
O you who yearn,
this is your Paradise from within.
It has no equal.
It is the abode of absolute bliss,
in which there is no restriction upon anyone.
“Therein are brought round for them trays of gold and goblets, and therein is all that souls desire and eyes find sweet. And ye are immortal therein.” (43:71)
It is a delight to the eyes,
and it is an everlasting eternity,
and a permanence in its beauty.
Work for the abode of permanence;
Ridwan is its guardian,
the Neighbor is Ahmad, and the Most Merciful is its Builder.
Its earth is gold,
its soil is musk,
and saffron is the grass growing within it.
Whoever wishes to purchase a home in Firdaws
must build it
with a rak'ah in the darkness of the night, performed in secret,
and by satisfying the hunger of a poor person
on a day of severe famine,
when prices have soared.
The soul covets this world, yet it knows
that safety from it
lies in abandoning what it contains.
We amass our wealth for our heirs,
and we build our houses for the decay of time.
There is no house for a person to inhabit after death
except the one he built before his death.
So whoever built it with good,
his dwelling shall be pleasant,
and whoever built it with evil,
its builder shall be disappointed.
So plant the roots of piety
while you are still able,
and know that you shall encounter them after death.
You shall harvest the fruits tomorrow,
where there is no fatigue, nor shall any distress reach it.
What great honors these are,
once they are attained,
and what great souls
shall encompass them.
O Allah, we ask You for Paradise and its blessings,
and we ask You for the highest Firdaws,
without reckoning and without punishment.
O Allah, answer our prayer.
The journey has a continuation,
for it is Paradise.