Salsabil
Salsabīl (Arabic: سَلْسَبیل) is a spring in the Heaven which is mentioned in the Qur'an. According to Quranic verses as well as hadiths, the spring is a source of Heavenly drink mixed with ginger. According to sources of Quranic exegesis, giving food to the poor, being fearful of God and the Resurrection, patience on God's path, and obedience of God render a person qualified for drinking from the spring of Salsabil. According to hadiths, the Pond of Kawthar is owned by Prophet Muhammad (s) and the spring of Salsabil is owned by Amir al-Mu'minin (a).
Quranic Meaning and Use
In chapter 76 of Qur'an it is said,
| “ | وَيُسْقَوْنَ فِيهَا كَأْسًا كَانَ مِزَاجُهَا زَنجَبِيلًا عَيْنًا فِيهَا تُسَمَّىٰ سَلْسَبِيلًا They will be served therein with a cup of a drink seasoned with Zanjabeel, from a spring in it named Salsabeel. |
” |
"Salsabil" literally means a tasty pleasant drink that softly passes through the mouth and the throat.[1] The word has been used in the Qur'an to refer to a spring in the Heaven. According to the verse 18 of Sura al-Insan, the spring contains Heavenly drink mixed with ginger. In addition to Sura al-Insan in which the spring of Salsabil is explicitly mentioned, the sentence, "In both of them are two springs, flowing", in the verse 50 of Sura al-Rahman is interpreted to refer to the two springs of Tasnim and Salsabil[2][3].
Heavenly Springs
The Qur'an has mentioned three Heavenly springs, Salsabil, Tasnim[4], and Kafur[5], along with other Heavenly blessings. According to hadiths, the springs of Salsabil and Kafur come out from under a tree in the Heaven, whose trunk is located in the Prophet's (s) house and whose branches are extended to all houses in the Heaven.[6] According to other hadiths, Salsabil flows from beneath the 'Arsh (Throne), and from there it goes to the Heaven of Eden (the highest position in the Heaven), and then it goes to other places in the Heaven.[7]
Amir al-Mu'minin (a) as the Owner of Salsabil
According to a hadith from the Prophet (s), God has given the Pond of Kawthar to the Prophet (s) and the spring of Salsabil to Imam Ali (a).[8]
A Reward for Believers
According to sources of the Quranic exegesis, one can be qualified for drinking from the spring of Salsabil by things such as giving food to the poor, being fearful of God and the Resurrection, obeying God and being patient on his path, fulfilling one's nadhr,[9] and reciting suras of al-An'am[10] and al-Fath.[11]
Notes
- ↑ Ibn ʿArabī, Tafsīr Ibn ʿArabī, vol. 2, p. 372; Markaz-i Farhang wa Maʿārif-i Qurʾān. Daʾirat al-maʿārif-i Qurʾān-i karīm, vol. 6, p. 382,383; Abū l-Futūḥ al-Rāzī, Rawḍ al-Jinān, vol. 20, p. 85.
- ↑ Suyūṭī, al-Itqān, vol. 2, p. 454; Abū l-Futūḥ al-Rāzī, Rawḍ al-Jinān, vol. 18, p. 273.
- ↑ In both of them will be two flowing springs.
- ↑ and whose seasoning is from Tasnīm. Qur'an 83:27
- ↑ Indeed the pious will drink from a cup seasoned with Kāfūr Qur'an 76:5
- ↑ Jurjāni, Jalāʾ al-adhhān wa jalāʾ al-aḥzān, vol. 5, p. 788.
- ↑ Jurjāni, Jalāʾ al-adhhān wa jalāʾ al-aḥzān, vol. 10, p. 250.
- ↑ Kāshānī, Manhaj al-ṣādiqīn, vol. 5, p. 247.
- ↑ Ḥāshimī Rafsanjānī, Farhang-i Qurʾān, vol. 16, p. 269.
- ↑ Abū l-Futūḥ al-Rāzī, Rawḍ al-Jinān, vol. 7, p. 224.
- ↑ Makārim Shīrāzī, Tafsīr-i nimūna, vol. 25, p. 367; Burūjirdī, Tafsīr-i Jāmiʿ, vol. 6, p. 357.
References
- Ibn ʿArabī, Tafsīr Ibn ʿArabī. Edited by al-Shaykh ʿAbd al-Wārith Muḥammad ʿAlī. Beirut: Dār al-Kutub al-ʿIlmiyya, 1st edition. 1422 AH.
- Abū l-Futūḥ al-Rāzī, Ḥusayn b. ʿAlī. Rawḍ al-Jinān wa Rawḥ al-Janān fī Tafsīr al-Qurʾān. Edited by Muḥammad Jaʿfar Yāḥiqī and Muḥammad Mahdī Naṣiḥ . 1st edition. Mashhad: Āstān-i Quds-i Raḍawī, 1408 AH.
- Burūjirdī, Muḥammad Ibrāhīm. Tafsīr-i Jāmiʿ. 6th edition. Tehran: Kitābkhāna-yi Ṣadr, 1366 Sh.
- Jurjāni, Ḥusayn b. Ḥasan. Jalāʾ al-adhhān wa jalāʾ al-aḥzān. Edited by Jalāl al-Dīn Muḥaddith. 1st edition. Tehran: Intishārat-i Dānishgāh-i Tehran, 1377 Sh.
- Suyūṭī, ʿAbd al-Raḥmān b. Abī Bakr al-. Al-Itqān fī ʿulūm al-Qurʾān. Edited by Muḥammad Abu l-Faḍl Ibrāhīm. Translated to farsi by Mahdī Hāʾirī Qazwīnī. 3rd edition. Tehran: Amīr Kabīr, 1380 Sh.
- Kāshānī, Mullā Fatḥ Allāh. Manhaj al-ṣādiqīn fī ilzām al-mukhālifīn. 1st edition. Tehran: Kitābfurūshī-yi Islāmiyya, 1336 Sh.
- Markaz-i Farhang wa Maʿārif-i Qurʾān. Daʾirat al-maʿārif-i Qurʾān-i karīm. 3rd edition. Qom: Būstān-i Kitāb, 1382 Sh.
- Makārim Shīrāzī, Nāṣir. Tafsīr-i nimūna. 10th edition. Tehran: Dār al-Kutub al-Islāmiyya, 1371 Sh.
- Ḥāshimī Rafsanjānī, Akbar. Farhang-i Qurʾān. 2nd editioon. Qom: Būstān-i Kitāb, 1383 Sh.