Ar-Rahman · Madani · ayah 62 of 78

Ar-Rahman 55:62

وَمِن دُونِهِمَا جَنَّتَانِ

“And below them both [in excellence] are two [other] gardens -”

Saheeh International

Essence

When the description seems complete, three words open a second pair of gardens: lower in rank, described with equal care, meant for most of us.

A reflection

The lower terrace of a hillside garden

Many readers carry a vague picture of Paradise as one flat place. You are either in or out, and once in, everything is the same.

This ayah breaks that picture with three words: 'and below them, two gardens'.

The higher pair has just been described in full. It was sealed with 'is the reward of beauty anything but beauty?' Now the surah opens a second pair. The early authorities say it is lower in rank and in excellence. One Companion's report puts it plainly: two gardens of gold for those brought near, and two of silver for the people of the right hand. Another commentary says all four belong to those who fear standing before their Lord, but the fearful differ in degree.

One classical reading makes the picture spatial. 'Below them' can mean below in place, like the Quran's 'rooms with rooms built above them' (39:20). The people of the upper gardens look up into overhanging branches. Below them they see the lower gardens spread out, so dense and green they look almost black.

A family visits a terraced garden built into a hillside. On the first terrace there are lawns, a fountain, deep green beds. The grandmother sits on a bench and says this is lovely enough for her. Her grandson is already running up the steps, shouting about what he can see from higher up.

Both of them are in the garden. Both are right.

That is the shape of this ayah. It refuses the flat picture, and it refuses contempt for the lower terrace. The lower gardens get eight refrains of their own, the same as the higher. They are not an afterthought. They are the Garden too, described with the same care, for the many who will reach them.

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.