Quran Garden

Session 340

Chapter 3

Verse 15

Say: “Shall I announce to you far better alternatives? For the God-conscious, with their Lord, theirs shall be Gardens underneath which rivers flow, where they shall live forever, and purified spouses and pleasure from God.  God is ever-watchful over His servants.

(Chapter 3: Verse 15)

The phrase “Shall I announce” is translated from the Arabic origin “Unabeukum.” It prepares the listener for the big news.  When, for example, you say to someone, “I want to tell you something,” he or she would expect ordinary conversation; but when you say: “I want to make an announcement,” people anticipate something major.  You do not announce that you will be having lunch at 2 pm today, you announce that you are moving to another city.  How about if the Almighty is the one making the announcement? It must be something monumental.  God says:

What are they asking each other about? Of the mighty Announcement (78:1-2)

The verses in chapter 78 are referring to the Day of Judgment, a matter that will alter the fabric of the entire universe. So when Allah says "Say: “Shall I announce to you far better alternatives?" we should expect enormous good, far superior to the worldly pleasures of wealth, family, children, and property. 

The phrase ‘with their Lord’ holds another clue to the scale of the pleasures God will inform you about.  This phrase should give every believer a great deal of comfort.  Why? We answer that ‘the Lord’ is the caretaker, the provider, and the protector.  The Lord is the one who nourishes and provides.  The word ‘God,’ on the other hand, usually denotes a call of worship and duties.  That is why, in the Quran, you will always find those who ask for help call out ‘My Lord, help me!’ not ‘My God, Help me!’Let’s clarify with an example.  The word “Dad” describes the person who cares for you and gives you food and shelter, while the word “father” describes the person who asks you to help around the house, and disciplines you when necessary.  The two words, ‘Dad’ and ‘father’ refer to the same person but at different roles.  So when you hear Allah say to you: ‘For the God-conscious, with their Lord,’ you feel peace in your heart. 

What has the Lord prepared for the God-conscious? “For the God-conscious, with their Lord, theirs shall be Gardens underneath which rivers flow, where they shall live forever, and purified spouses and pleasure from God.”

Let’s compare the pleasures of the Hereafter to those of this world to find out if they are truly ‘far better.’  In the 14^th verse of Al-Imran, when Allah referred to the pleasures of owning land, He used the word ‘tilth.’  We explained how tilth involves plowing and planting.   In the Hereafter, Allah uses the word ‘gardens’to inform us that paradise is fully prepared and does not require any work.  Things do not stop here, if you own land in this world, you always worry about rain and water supply.  Paradise, on the other hand, is self-sufficient ‘underneath which rivers flow.’  Most importantly, life in paradise is eternal; it never leaves you, and you can never be kicked out. 

Let’s compare the second item.  Allah says: ‘and purified spouses.’  Ask any happily married man or woman if their spouse is perfect, and you will often get a long list of complaints.  Even people who fall madly in love find faults after a while, either in looks or in character.  On some occasions, faults can ruin the entire marriage.  The most beautiful woman starts getting wrinkles in a decade or two, and the strongest man grows weaker with age. 

Things are different in the Hereafter.  Spouses will be cleansed from every defect that afflicts them in this world.  Why? Because God will purify them in creation and character.  More importantly, everyone in paradise enjoys eternal youth. 

When you compare verse 14 of Al-Imran to verse 15, you notice that many items are missing in verse 15.  When talking about the pleasures of the hereafter, Allah mentioned gardens and spouses, but omitted piles of gold and silver, horses, livestock, or children –all mentioned in verse 14-.  Why? We can answer this question in two ways.  First, in verse 15, Allah talked about spouses and gardens because these were the first and the last items mentioned in verse 14.  It is as if the spouses who were mentioned first in verse 14 represented the opening parenthesis, and the gardens that were mentioned last were the closing parenthesis.  By only mentioning the first and last items in verse 15, the verse became inclusive, covering everything in between.  Allah wants you to know that paradise is far superior in every way, and it is inclusive of all pleasures.  

The second way to answer the question is as follows: God’s bounties arein everything that benefits us.Good character is a bounty, so are knowledge, food, and clothes.Sometimes God’s provision is direct, and at other times it is indirect.  For example, money –like gold and silver- are just a medium of exchange and do not directly benefit you.  Say, for example, that you were very hungry, and you had a pile of Gold.  Does the pile do your hunger any good? It does not.  But if you had a loaf of bread, you would benefit directly.  Likewise, if you had millions in cash and you were dying of thirst in the desert, would your cash offer you any direct benefit? No, but a bottle of water would save your life. 

Money is a means to an end; and means will not be needed in the Hereafter because you now live with the Creator of means.  Things will come to by the Almighty’s command ‘be.’  In heaven, you will not need money or piles of gold and silver to get what you desire.Neither will you require horses or cars to get around.  Anything that comes to your mind will be presented to you immediately without any work or effort.  Thus, such things were not mentioned in the verse.