Gardens of Eden
Jannāt ʿAdn (Arabic: جنّات عَدن) or Gardens of Eden , meaning perpetual gardens and heavens, is the name of a heaven or a city in the Heaven. Quranic exegetes believe that "Jannat 'Adn" are superior to other gardens of the Heaven. In a hadith from the Prophet (s), Gardens of Eden are described as being what no eyes have ever seen and what has never occurred to any heart. However, there are sensible descriptions of this heaven in some Quranic verses. Residents of Gardens of Eden are said to include different groups such as prophets, the sincere, martyrs, believers, and mujahids.
Introduction
The word, "jannat", is the plural form of "janna" meaning garden and heaven,[1] and the word, "'adn", means residence[2] and settlement.[3] "'Adn" in the Qur'an has been interpreted by exegetes as perpetuity[4] and eternity,[5] and "Jannat 'Adn" has been interpreted as perpetual or eternal heavens.[6] The phrase has occurred eleven times in the Qur'an, in all of which it appears in the plural form.[7] It occurs both in Makki and Madani suras of the Qur'an.[8] Some exegetes believe that "Gardens of Eden" are superior to other gardens of the Heaven.[9]
There are two views of the "Gardens of Eden":
- Some exegetes believe that it is a proper name,[10] referring to one of the heavens.[11] Others take it to name a city[12] in the middle of the Heaven.[13]
- However, other exegetes believe that "'Adn" is an attribute of the Heaven, and all heavens count as 'adn indeed.[14]
Muhammad Darwaza, a contemporary Sunni exegete, believes that God describes afterlife places with reference to well-known places in this world. Before the promotion of Muhammad (s) to prophethood, there was a place called "Adnat" in Yemen with well-known gardens. The word transformed into "'Adn" and was deployed by the Qur'an in the description of the Heaven or one of the afterlife heavens.[15]
Attributes
There is a hadith in which the Prophet of Islam (s) describes the "Gardens of Eden" as what no eyes have ever seen and what has never occurred to a heart.[16] However, there are sensible descriptions of this heaven in some Quranic verses. In Qur'an 9, it is described as a garden in which streams flow and pleasant dwellings are located.[17] In Qur'an 18, it is described as being adorned with bracelets of gold and green garments of silk and brocade on their inhabitants.[18]
According to Qur'an 38, residents of the Gardens of Eden recline on thrones, are provided with abundant fruits and drinks, and there will be with them wives that have their glances only on them.[19]
According to hadiths, the heavenly river of "Tasnim" springs from the Gardens of Eden.[20]
Residents
The Prophet (s) is quoted as saying that three groups of people will reside in the Gardens of Eden: prophets, the sincere, and martyrs.[21]
Other groups of people are also said to reside in this heaven:
- People who stay steadfast on, and do not break their promise to God; those who stay patient for the sake of their Lord, hold prayers and donate privately and publicly.[23]
- Those who believe in God and His Messenger (s), and perform jihad with their lives and property.[24]
- Those who repent, believe, and do righteous actions.[25]
Notes
- ↑ Qarashī, Qāmūs al-Qurʾān, vol. 2, p. 122.
- ↑ Muṣṭafawī, al-Taḥqīq, vol. 8, p. 60.
- ↑ Qarashī, Qāmūs al-Qurʾān, vol. 2, p. 122.
- ↑ Makārim Shīrāzī, Tafsīr-i nimūna, vol. 10, p. 195.
- ↑ Najafī Khumiynī, Tafsīr-i āsān, vol. 16, p. 239.
- ↑ Ṭabāṭabāyī, al-Mīzān, vol. 9, p. 338.
- ↑ Girāmī, "Janāt ʿAdn", vol. 10, p. 59.
- ↑ Darwaza, al-Tafsīr al-ḥadīth, vol. 2, p. 334.
- ↑ Makārim Shīrāzī, Tafsīr-i nimūna, vol. 10, p. 196.
- ↑ Zamakhsharī, al-Kashshāf, vol. 2, p. 26.
- ↑ Shubbar, Tafsīr al-Qurʾān, p. 208.
- ↑ Majlisī, Mirʾāt al-ʿuqūl, vol. 2, p. 423.
- ↑ Suyūṭī, al-Durr al-manthūr, vol. 4, p. 57.
- ↑ Fakhr al-Rāzī, Mafātīḥ al-ghayb, vol. 16, p. 102.
- ↑ Darwaza, al-Tafsīr al-ḥadīth, vol. 2, p. 335.
- ↑ Ṭabrisī, Majmaʿ al-bayān, vol. 5, p. 77.
- ↑ Qurʾān, 9:72.
- ↑ Qurʾān, 18:31.
- ↑ Qur'an 38:51-52.
- ↑ Majlisī, Biḥār al-anwār, vol. 8, p. 85.
- ↑ Ṭabrisī, Majmaʿ al-bayān, vol. 5, p. 77.
- ↑ Qurʾān, 9:72.
- ↑ Qur'an 13:20-22.
- ↑ Qur'an 61:11-12.
- ↑ Qur'an, 19:61.
- ↑ Al-Tafsīr, p. 253.
References
- Al-Tafsīr. Attributed to Imam al-Ḥasan al-ʿAskarī. Qom: Madrisat al-Imām al-Mahdī, 1409 AH.
- Darwaza, Muḥammad ʿIzza al-. Al-Tafsīr al-ḥadīth. Cairo: Dār Iḥyāʾ al-Kutub al-ʿArabīyya, 1383 AH.
- Fakhr al-Rāzī, Muḥammad b. ʿUmar al-. Mafātīḥ al-ghayb. Third edition. Beirut: Dār Iḥyāʾ al-Turāth al-ʿArabī, 1420 AH.
- Girāmī, ʿAlī. "Janāt ʿAdn." In Dāʾirat al-Maʿārif-i Buzurg-i Islāmī. Qom: Būstān-i Kitāb, 1391 Sh.
- Majlisī, Muḥammad Bāqir al-. Biḥār al-anwār. Third edition. Beirut: Dār Iḥyāʾ al-Turāth al-ʿArabī, 1403 AH.
- Majlisī, Muḥammad Bāqir al-. Mirʾāt al-ʿuqūl. Edited by Sayyid Hāshim Rasūlī. Tehran: Dār al-Kutub al-Islāmīyya, Second edition. 1404 AH.
- Makārim Shīrāzī, Nāṣir. Tafsīr-i nimūna. Tehran: Dār al-Kutub al-Islāmīyya, 1374 Sh.
- Muṣṭafawī, Ḥasan. Al-Taḥqīq fī kalimāt al-Qurʾān. Tehran: Bungāh-i Tarjuma wa Nashr-i Kitāb, 1360 Sh.
- Najafī Khumaynī, Muḥammad Jawād. Tafsīr-i āsān. Tehran: Intishārāt-i Islāmīyya, 1398 AH.
- Qarashī, Sayyid ʿAlī Akbar. Qāmūs al-Qurʾān. Sixth edition. Tehran: Dār al-Kutub al-Islāmīyya, 1371 Sh.
- Shubbar, Sayyid ʿAbd Allāh al-. Tafsīr al-Qurʾān. Beirut: Dār al-Balāgha li-l-Ṭabāʿa wa l-Nashr, 1412 AH.
- Suyūṭī, Jalāl al-Dīn al-. Al-Durr al-manthūr fī tafsīr al-maʾthūr. Qom: Maktabat Āyatollāh Marʿashī al-Najafī, 1404 AH.
- Ṭabāṭabāyī, Muḥammad Ḥusayn. Al-Mīzān fī tafsīr al-Qurʾān. Fifth edition. Qom: Daftar-i Intishārāt-i Islāmī, 1417 AH
- Ṭabrisī, Faḍl b. al-Ḥasan al-. Majmaʿ al-bayān. Tehran: Nāṣir Khusru, 1372 Sh.
- Zamakhsharī, Maḥmūd al-. Al-Kashshāf ʿan ḥaqāʾiq ghawāmiḍ al-tanzīl. Third edition. Beirut: Dār al-Kutub al-ʿArabī, 1407 AH.