In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
It is Paradise.
The description of the people of Paradise.
Praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds.
And may peace and blessings be upon our Prophet Muhammad.
And upon all his family and companions.
To proceed:
O people of Paradise,
you will live in those gardens, by the permission of Allah.
You will be in the form and stature of our father Adam, peace be upon him,
which is the most perfect of forms.
Allah created him with His own hand and perfected his form,
standing sixty cubits tall,
and seven cubits wide.
This is the greatest and most complete of human statures.
You will be at the age of thirty-three years.
Reflect upon this height, width, and age,
for within it lies wisdom
that is hidden from no one.
It is the most eloquent and complete state for the fulfillment of pleasure.
The proportion between the height and the width
is not hidden from you,
for if one were to exceed the other,
the balance would be lost.
Here we all are in Paradise,
our complexions fair,
the most beautiful of fair complexions,
our eyes adorned with kohl,
the most beautiful of adornments.
We will be hairless on our bodies,
beardless on our faces,
and curly-haired on our heads.
Our character will be the best that a person can possess,
having reached the pinnacle and limit of goodness.
Indeed, our beauty will increase as the ages pass.
What of faces that look upon Allah?
How could they return?
Without a doubt,
their light and beauty will only increase.
For every Friday,
we will go to the market of Paradise,
and the north wind will blow upon us,
scattering upon our faces and garments
the soil of Paradise,
with its saffron and fragrance,
so we will increase in beauty and splendor.
We will return to our families,
and they will say to us,
"You have increased in beauty and splendor."
We will say to them,
"And you, by Allah,
have increased in beauty and splendor after we left."
This is the state every week.
Here in Paradise,
we will eat whatever we desire of various meats and birds,
and drink whatever we wish from rivers of milk, wine, water, and honey,
as well as from the springs of Paradise.
Yet, despite this,
we will have no need for urination or defecation,
nor will it produce belching as happens with worldly food.
Rather, we will digest what we eat with complete ease,
and it will exit our bodies as sweat and perspiration, fragrant like musk,
so we will increase in fragrance upon fragrance.
O people of Paradise,
we are here in eternal well-being and perfect health.
No ailments or diseases afflict us,
nor any pain or fatigue.
Our bliss therein is lasting and eternal;
no misery or distress shall reach us.
Our youth therein does not fade or change,
nor is it replaced by old age or decay.
Furthermore, we do not sleep therein,
because sleep is the brother of death,
and there is no death in Paradise.
And because sleep is a disconnection from reality,
and there is no disconnection from pleasure in Paradise,
nor any pause in the moments of bliss,
without boredom or weariness.
Rather, we will be given great strength in everything:
in eating, drinking, and desire,
such that the strength of one of us
will be equal to the strength of one hundred men,
so that the feeling of pleasure may be greater and more complete.
Did Allah the Almighty not say in His Book,
describing the people of Paradise:
"Gardens of perpetual residence, which they will enter,"
"they will be adorned therein with bracelets,"
"of gold and pearls,"
"and their garments therein will be silk."
And they will say, "Praise be to Allah,"
"who has removed from us all sorrow."
“And they say: Praise be to Allah Who hath put grief away from us. Lo! Our Lord is Forgiving, Bountiful,” (35:34)
“Who, of His grace, hath installed us in the mansion of eternity, where toil toucheth us not nor can weariness affect us.” (35:35)
“Who, of His grace, hath installed us in the mansion of eternity, where toil toucheth us not nor can weariness affect us.” (35:35)
“Who, of His grace, hath installed us in the mansion of eternity, where toil toucheth us not nor can weariness affect us.” (35:35)
"An-nasab" (fatigue) is the weariness of the body,
and "al-lughub" is the weariness of the soul.
Both are removed from us in Paradise.
As for the state of our hearts in Paradise,
they are free from malice and envy,
and everything else that exists in the world.
There is no disagreement or hatred among us.
We are inspired to glorify and praise Allah,
just as we are inspired to breathe, in the morning and the evening.
The highest in rank among us is the one who looks upon Allah the Almighty every day.
And the lowest in rank—though there is no one among us who is "low"—
is he who travels through his kingdom for two thousand years,
and he looks at the furthest end of his kingdom just as he sees the nearest.
O people of the gardens,
we will descend into the degrees of Paradise according to our deeds.
For entry into Paradise is by grace,
but our stations therein are by justice.
Paradise has a hundred degrees, or more,
and within each degree are further degrees.
The distance between two degrees is like that between the heaven and the earth.
The highest of them is the degree of Firdaws,
and the highest degree of Firdaws is the Wasilah,
which Allah the Almighty has reserved for our Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him.
It is the closest of degrees to Allah the Almighty.
We will see those above us in their chambers
just as we see a brilliant star fading on the horizon in the east or the west.
Did Allah the Almighty not say:
“There are degrees (of grace and reprobation) with Allah, and Allah is Seer of what they do.” (3:163)
"And Allah is All-Seeing of what they do."
Here, it will be said to the companion of the Qur'an:
"Recite and ascend,"
"for your station is at the last verse you recite."
So he will recite and ascend through the degrees of Paradise,
until he recites the very last thing he has memorized.
And now, come with me, my companions,
to look into these beautiful gardens.
What is their soil composed of?
How is their construction?
How are their houses and palaces?
Let us learn more and more about them.
Look at the soil of Paradise;
it is made of precious saffron,
than which there is nothing better.
Its color is beautiful,
its appearance is beautiful,
and its texture is soft.
When water is mixed with it,
or the wind blows over it,
we smell the scent of pure musk,
intense in its pleasant fragrance.
Some of its lands are white "darmaka" (fine flour),
resembling bread made from pure white flour,
known for its softness and smoothness.
This is the soil of our Paradise,
which our feet tread upon,
and upon which we walk.
So how is its construction?
How is its ceiling?
How are its palaces, rivers, and orchards?
O people of Paradise,
this musk and saffron in the soil of Paradise
gives it a powerful scent,
fragrant and pure.
We find its scent from vast, distant spaces.
Some of us will smell the scent of Paradise
from a distance of forty years.
This is the one with the lowest rank in Paradise.
And some of us will smell it
from a distance of seventy years.
And some of us will smell its scent
from a distance of five hundred years.
And some of us will smell its scent
from a distance of a thousand years,
and that is due to his purity and the purity of his deeds.
This scent that you smell from afar
resembles the scent of henna,
which is the queen of the fragrant plants of Paradise.
All the believers will smell the scent of Paradise in the Hereafter,
those near to it and those far.
Some may even smell it in this world,
as an honor from Allah for them,
just as Anas Ibn al-Nadr, may Allah be pleased with him, smelled it on the day of Uhud,
when he said:
"I smell the scent of Paradise,"
"I find it below Uhud."
He could not restrain himself,
so he advanced and fought the people until he was killed.
They found over eighty wounds on him.
Some believers may smell this scent when their souls are taken,
as a glad tiding hastened for them.
Those below will see those above them
like stars, seen with the naked eye.
This is not restricted to the messengers of Allah, but for them and the truthful ones of faith.
Yet the lowest among them—and there is no one low among them,
for there is no deficiency in the gardens—
is he whose kingdom spans a distance
of two thousand of our years.
He sees the furthest point of it just as he sees the nearest.
This is so, and their age is thirty-three, which is the strength of youth.
Their height is the height of their father, sixty, but their width is seven, without deficiency.
This is so, and the proportion between this width and the height of wondrous status is not hidden.
Their complexions are fair, and they have no beards,
curly-haired, with eyes adorned with kohl.
This is the perfection of beauty in their skin, their hair, and likewise their eyes.
The fragrance is found from a distance of forty years, and if you wish, a hundred is also narrated.
Likewise, seventy has been narrated; all of this is authentic and supported by two reports.
It has also been estimated at five hundred, multiplied, without any deficiency.
If this is authentic, then it, and what came before it, is entirely possible.
O Allah, grant us Paradise and its bounties.
O Allah, we ask You for the highest level of Paradise, al-Firdaws.
Without reckoning and without prior punishment.
O Allah, answer our prayer, for the journey remains.
It is Paradise.