Interpretation of Sura al-Fatir - Verse 33

33.“Gardens of Eden! They shall enter; therein they shall be adorned with bracelets of gold and pearls; and their raiment there shall be of silk.”

Commentary

The reward of a temporary deprivation can be a permanent success.

This verse is, in fact, a conclusion for what was mentioned in the previous verses. This holy verse implicitly says that the reward of those who outstrip in good deeds is the eternal gardens of Paradise in which all of them will wholly enter. The verse says:

“Gardens of Eden! They shall enter; …”

The Qur’a-nic word /janna-t/ is the plural form of /jannah/ with the sense of ‘garden’ and /‘adn/ is in the sense of settlement and stability; and ‘main’ is so called because it is the place of the settlement of metals and the like. Thus, the Qur’a-nic phrase: /janna-t-u-‘adn/ means ‘the eternal gardens of Paradise’.

However, this meaning shows that the great bounties of Paradise are eternal and stable. And like the merits of the worldly material, they are not mixed with anxiety originated from the fear of destruction. The people of Paradise not only have a garden in Paradise, but also have many gardens at their disposal.

Then the verse refers to three parts of the bounties therein, some of which have material aspect and outward nature; some others have spiritual aspect and inward nature; and the third part has pointed to the negation of the existence of any kind of hindrance and trouble. It says:

“… therein they shall be adorned with bracelets of gold and pearls; and their raiment there shall be of silk.”

In this world they were heedless to the dazzling glares and did not make themselves as captives to the glare of ornaments and when the deprived had not some cheep pieces of clothing, they did not tend to have expensive garments. To recompense these, in the next world, Allah will make them wear the best clothing and ornaments.

In this world, they adorned their outward with good deeds, then, in the next world, which is the world of incarnation of deeds, Allah will adorn them with kinds of ornaments, too.

We have repeatedly said that our words, which have been formed for the limited life of this world, never can convey the concepts of the great world of Hereafter. In order to state those bounties, we need to apply another kind of Alphabet, culture and dictionary. But, however, in order that an outline of those great bounties could be shown to us, the prisoners of this world, we must take help from the slight ability of these very words to explain those bounties.

Adopted from the book : "The Light of the Holy Qur'an; Interpretation of Surah al-Fatir" by : "Sayyid Kamal Faghih Imani and a Group of Muslim Scholars"