Muhammad · Madani · ayah 15 of 38

Muhammad 47:15

مَّثَلُ ٱلْجَنَّةِ ٱلَّتِى وُعِدَ ٱلْمُتَّقُونَ ۖ فِيهَآ أَنْهَـٰرٌ مِّن مَّآءٍ غَيْرِ ءَاسِنٍ وَأَنْهَـٰرٌ مِّن لَّبَنٍ لَّمْ يَتَغَيَّرْ طَعْمُهُۥ وَأَنْهَـٰرٌ مِّنْ خَمْرٍ لَّذَّةٍ لِّلشَّـٰرِبِينَ وَأَنْهَـٰرٌ مِّنْ عَسَلٍ مُّصَفًّى ۖ وَلَهُمْ فِيهَا مِن كُلِّ ٱلثَّمَرَٰتِ وَمَغْفِرَةٌ مِّن رَّبِّهِمْ ۖ كَمَنْ هُوَ خَـٰلِدٌ فِى ٱلنَّارِ وَسُقُوا۟ مَآءً حَمِيمًا فَقَطَّعَ أَمْعَآءَهُمْ

“Is the description of Paradise, which the righteous are promised, wherein are rivers of water unaltered,[1498] rivers of milk the taste of which never changes, rivers of wine delicious to those who drink, and rivers of purified honey, in which they will have from all [kinds of] fruits and forgiveness from their Lord... [Are its inhabitants] like those who abide eternally in the Fire and are given to drink scalding water that will sever their intestines?”

Saheeh International

Essence

Four rivers run through the Garden, each the best drink you know with its flaw removed, and above them all, forgiveness.

A reflection

Every river with its flaw removed

The ayah names four rivers, and each one comes with a small phrase attached. Read the phrases slowly. Each one quietly removes a flaw that the same drink has in this world.

Rivers of water "not stale". The word is āsin. The lexicons say water became āsin when standing had spoiled its smell. They used the same word for a man who climbed down a well and fainted from its foul air. Water in this world, one concise commentary notes, changes when something happens to it. This water does not.

Rivers of milk "whose taste does not change". One commentator explains: it does not turn sour from standing, as milk in this world does.

Rivers of wine "delicious to those who drink". Worldly wine, the same commentary says, is unpleasant at the moment of drinking. This is delight from the first sip.

Rivers of honey "purified". Honey in this world comes from the bees mixed with wax and debris. One commentator says this honey was created clear, never boiled on a fire, never soiled.

Picture a child's paddling pool left in a garden for a week in July. On the first day it sparkles. By the fifth, it is green and smells, and a drowned wasp floats in the corner. Nobody wants to touch it. Everything good in this world is like that: wonderful at first, and quietly turning.

The rivers of Paradise are the same good things without the turning. Not strange new pleasures, but the best you already know, finally kept the way they were on the first day.

The full entry has 5 more reflections, questions to sit with, and "Live it today" - with the words, the roots and the tafsir alongside. Free, no account, works offline.