Part of It Is Paradise (series completed)
· Lesson 14 of 16
It's heaven | Episode (13) | Ibn al-Qayyim's description of Paradise
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Transcript
Machine translation — may contain errors
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In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
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It is Paradise.
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Ibn al-Qayyim’s description of Paradise.
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All praise is due to Allah, Lord of the worlds.
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May the peace and blessings of Allah be upon our Prophet Muhammad.
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And upon all his family and companions.
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To proceed:
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Ibn al-Qayyim, may Allah have mercy on him, said in his description of Paradise:
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How can one estimate the worth of a home that Allah fashioned with His own hand?
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He made it a dwelling for those He loves.
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He filled it with His mercy, His honors, and His good pleasure.
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He described its bliss as the supreme triumph.
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And its sovereignty as a magnificent kingdom.
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He deposited within it all goodness in its entirety.
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And He purified it from every defect, affliction, and deficiency.
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If you ask about its earth and soil,
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It is musk and saffron.
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If you ask about its ceiling, it is the Throne of the Most Merciful.
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If you ask about its floor, it is fragrant musk.
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If you ask about its pebbles, they are pearls and jewels.
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If you ask about its construction, it is a brick of silver and a brick of gold.
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If you ask about its trees, there is no tree therein but that its trunk is of gold and silver.
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Not of firewood and wood.
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If you ask about its fruit,
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It is like large jars in size.
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Softer than butter,
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And sweeter than honey.
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If you ask about its leaves,
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They are the finest of silken garments.
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If you ask about its rivers,
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They are rivers of water that does not stagnate.
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And rivers of milk,
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The taste of which never changes.
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And rivers of wine, a delight,
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To those who drink.
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And rivers of honey,
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Purified.
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If you ask about their food,
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It is fruit of whatever they choose.
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And the meat of birds,
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Of whatever they desire.
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If you ask about their drink,
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It is Tasnim, ginger,
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And camphor.
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If you ask about their vessels,
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They are vessels of gold,
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And silver, in the clarity,
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Of crystal.
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If you ask about the width of its gates,
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The distance between the two doorposts,
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Is a journey of forty years.
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Yet a day will come,
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Upon it,
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When it is crowded with throngs.
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If you ask about the rustling,
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Of the wind through its trees,
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It stirs,
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With delight for those who hear it.
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If you ask about its shade,
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There is a single tree in it,
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Which,
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A swift, diligent rider,
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Travels in its shade for a hundred years,
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Without crossing it.
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If you ask about its vastness,
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The lowest of its inhabitants,
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Travels within his kingdom, his couches,
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His palaces, and his gardens,
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For a distance of a thousand years.
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If you ask about,
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Its tents and pavilions,
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A single tent,
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Is a hollowed-out pearl,
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Sixty miles in height.
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Of those tents.
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If you ask about its upper chambers,
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They are rooms, above which are,
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Built rooms,
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Beneath which flow,
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The rivers.
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If you ask about its height,
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Look at the star,
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Rising or setting on the horizon,
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Which one can barely,
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Perceive with the eyes.
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If you ask about the clothing of its people,
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It is silk and gold.
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If you ask about their furnishings,
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Their linings,
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Are of thick silk,
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Spread out in the highest,
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Ranks.
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If you ask about their thrones,
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They are couches upon which,
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Are curtains, fastened,
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With buttons of gold.
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They have no gaps,
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Nor openings.
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If you ask about the faces of its people,
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And their beauty, it is like,
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The image of the moon.
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If you ask about their age,
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They are thirty-three years old,
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In the image,
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Of the father of mankind.
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If you ask about what they hear,
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It is the singing of their spouses,
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From the wide-eyed houris.
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And higher than that,
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Is hearing the voices of the angels,
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And the prophets.
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And higher than both,
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Is the speech of the Lord of the worlds.
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If you ask about their mounts,
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Upon which they visit one another,
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They are noble steeds,
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Of whatever Allah wills,
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Carrying them wherever,
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If you ask about,
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Their ornaments and attire,
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They are bracelets of gold and pearls.
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Upon their heads,
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They wear crowns.
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If you ask about their servants,
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They are immortal youths,
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As if they were hidden pearls.
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If you ask about,
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Their brides and spouses,
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They are the full-breasted maidens of equal age,
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In whose limbs,
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There flows,
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The bloom of youth.
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The roses and apples,
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Are what their cheeks wear.
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And the pomegranates,
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Are what their bosoms contain.
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And the strung pearls,
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Are what their mouths hold.
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And for softness and delicacy,
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Are their waists.
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The sun runs,
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Through the beauty of her face,
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When she appears.
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And lightning flashes,
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From between her teeth,
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When she smiles.
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If she meets her beloved,
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Then say what you will,
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About the meeting of the two luminaries.
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And if she speaks,
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What is your thought,
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Of the conversation of two lovers?
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And if he embraces her,
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What is your thought,
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Of the intertwining of two branches?
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He sees his own face,
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In the surface of her cheek,
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As one sees it in a mirror,
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Which a polisher has burnished.
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And he sees the marrow of her shins,
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From behind the flesh,
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Not hidden by her skin,
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Nor her bone,
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Nor her garments.
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If she were to look upon the world,
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She would fill all that is between the earth,
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And the sky with fragrance.
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And she would cause the mouths,
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Of all creation to utter praise,
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Magnification, and glorification of Allah.
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And she would adorn for herself,
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All that is between the horizons.
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And every eye,
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Would be closed to all else.
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And she would eclipse the light of the sun,
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Just as the sun,
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Eclipses the light of the stars.
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And everyone on the face of the earth,
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Would believe in Allah, the Ever-Living, the Sustainer.
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And her head-covering,
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Upon her head,
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Is better than the world and all that is in it.
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And her union,
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Is more desirable to him than all,
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His wishes.
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She does not increase with the passing,
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Of ages, except in beauty,
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And splendor.
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She does not increase with the length of time,
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Except in love and intimacy.
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Free from pregnancy and childbirth,
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And menstruation and postpartum bleeding.
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Purified from mucus,
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And saliva,
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And urine and excrement,
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And all other impurities.
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Her youth never fades,
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Her garments never wear out,
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Her beauty never fades,
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nor does the splendor of her attire,
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and one never tires of the sweetness of her company.
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She has restrained her gaze
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for her spouse alone,
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never casting it toward anyone
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else.
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He, too, has restrained his gaze for her,
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for she is the ultimate object of his desire
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and his heart’s longing.
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If he looks at her, she brings him joy,
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and if he commands her to obey him,
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she obeys.
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If he is away from her, she remains chaste,
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and he is with her
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in absolute peace and security.
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This is she,
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whom no human has touched before him,
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nor any jinn.
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Every time he looks at her,
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she fills his heart with joy,
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and every time she speaks,
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she fills his ears
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with words like pearls, strung together
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or scattered.
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When she appears,
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she fills the palace and the chamber with light.
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If you ask about her age,
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they are peers,
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in the prime of youth.
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If you ask about her beauty,
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have you ever seen the sun and the moon?
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If you ask about her eyes,
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they have the deepest black
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in the clearest white,
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with the most beautiful, wide-eyed gaze.
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If you ask about her stature,
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have you ever seen
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the most graceful of branches?
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If you ask about her bosom,
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they are full and firm,
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like the swelling
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of a pomegranate.
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If you ask about her complexion,
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it is as if it were ruby
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and coral.
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If you ask about her character,
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they are the virtuous,
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the beautiful,
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in whom is combined
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both outer beauty and inner excellence.
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They have been granted beauty of the soul
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and of the form,
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for they are the delight of the spirits
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and the joy of the eyes.
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If you ask about the beauty of their companionship
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and the pleasure found there,
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they are the affectionate, loving women
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toward their spouses,
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with a gentleness of manner
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that blends with the soul
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in perfect harmony.
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What, then, do you think of a woman
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who, when she smiles at the face
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of her husband, illuminates
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Paradise with her smile?
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And when she moves from one palace
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to another,
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you would say, "This is the sun
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moving through the constellations
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of its orbit."
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If she converses with her husband,
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how beautiful is that conversation!
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If she embraces him,
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how delightful is that
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embrace and closeness!
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If she sings,
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what a delight to the eyes
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and the ears!
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If she entertains and brings pleasure,
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how wonderful is that
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companionship and enjoyment!
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If she kisses,
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there is nothing more desirable
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to him than that kiss.
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And if she grants herself,
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there is nothing more delightful or sweeter
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than that gift.
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This is so.
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If you ask about the Day of Increase,
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and visiting the Almighty, the Praiseworthy,
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and seeing His Face,
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which is exalted above any representation
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or resemblance,
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just as you see the sun at midday
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and the moon on a full-moon night,
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as has been transmitted repeatedly
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from the Truthful, the Believed, regarding it—
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and that is found
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in the Sahih collections, the Sunan,
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and the Musnad collections,
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from Jarir, Suhayb,
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Anas, Abu Hurayrah,
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Abu Musa, and Abu Sa'id—
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then listen:
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The day the caller calls out,
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"O people of Paradise,
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your Lord,
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Blessed and Exalted is He, invites you to visit Him,
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so come forth to
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His visitation."
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They will say, "We hear
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and we obey."
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They will rise to the visitation, hastening.
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Suddenly, the noble mounts
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have been prepared for them,
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and they will mount upon their backs,
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rushing.
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Until, when they reach the wide
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valley that was appointed
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as their meeting place,
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and they are gathered there,
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the caller will not leave any of them
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behind.
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The Lord, Blessed and Exalted is He, will command
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His Throne to be set up there.
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Then there will be set up for them
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pulpits of light,
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pulpits of pearl,
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pulpits of chrysolite,
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pulpits of gold,
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and pulpits of silver.
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The lowest of them—
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and far be it from them that there should be among them
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anyone of low status—will sit upon mounds
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of musk,
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and they will not feel that those on the pulpits
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are above them in gifts.
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Until, when they are settled
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in their seats
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and their places are secure,
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the caller will call out,
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"O people of Paradise,
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you have a promise from Allah
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that He wishes
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to fulfill for you."
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They will say, "What is it?
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Has He not whitened our faces,
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weighed down our scales,
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admitted us into Paradise,
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and distanced us from
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the Fire?"
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While they are in that state,
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a light will shine upon them,
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for which Paradise will glow.
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They will raise their heads,
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and there is the Almighty, Majestic is He,
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looking down upon them from above.
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He will say, "O people of Paradise,
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peace be upon you."
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This greeting will be answered with nothing
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better
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than their saying,
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"O Allah, You are Peace,
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and from You is peace.
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Blessed are You, O Possessor of
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Majesty and Honor."
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Then the Lord, Blessed and Exalted is He, will manifest to them,
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smiling at them,
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and He will say,
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"O people of Paradise!"
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The first thing they will hear
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from Him,
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Exalted is He,
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will be,
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"Where are My servants who
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obeyed Me in the unseen
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and did not see Me?
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This is the Day of Increase."
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They will agree upon
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one word:
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"We are pleased,
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so be pleased with us."
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He will say,
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"O people of Paradise,
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I am pleased with you.
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I did not settle you in My Paradise—
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this is the Day of Increase—
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except to ask of Me."
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They will agree upon one word:
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"Show us Your Face,
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that we may look upon it."
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So the Lord,
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Majestic is His Majesty, will remove the veils
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and manifest to them,
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and there will cover them of His light
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that which, had Allah,
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Exalted is He, not decreed
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So that they are not consumed,
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and there remains in that
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gathering no one
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but that their Lord,
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Exalted is He, addresses them directly,
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to the point that He says, "O
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so-and-so, do you remember
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the day you did such-and-such?"
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reminding him of some
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of his betrayals in the worldly life.
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He will say, "O
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my Lord, did You not forgive me?"
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He will reply, "Indeed,
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it is by My forgiveness
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that you have reached this station of yours."
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Oh, the delight of the ears
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at that discourse,
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and oh, the joy of the eyes
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of the righteous as they gaze
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upon the Noble Countenance
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in the abode of the Hereafter.
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And oh, the humiliation of those returning
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with a losing bargain.
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[Some] faces that Day
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will be radiant,
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looking toward their Lord.
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And [some] faces
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that Day
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will be contorted,
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expecting that there will be done to them
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something back-breaking.
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So hasten to the Gardens of Eden,
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for they are
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our original homes,
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and therein is our encampment.
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But we are captives of
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the enemy; so do you think
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we shall return to our
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homelands and be safe?
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O Allah, we
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ask You for Paradise and its bliss,
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and we ask You for the highest
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level of Paradise,
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without reckoning
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or punishment.
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O Allah, amen.
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And the journey has a continuation;
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it is
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Paradise.