Tafseer of The Thunder · Ar-Ra'd · 13:23
Gardens of perpetual residence; they will enter them with whoever were righteous among their fathers, their spouses and their descendants. And the angels will enter upon them from every gate, [saying],
Important: The Arabic source text is always authoritative. This translation is a study aid and has not been verified by scholars — do not use it as a basis for religious proof or for deriving rulings (ahkam). When in doubt, always consult the Arabic text and a qualified scholar.
Abū Jaʿfar said: جَنَّاتُ عَدْنٍ (gardens of abode) is an explanation of عُقْبَى الدَّارِ — as one says: "what an excellent man is ʿAbd Allāh!" and ʿAbd Allāh is then the man about whom it is said "what an excellent man!" — and the meaning of the text is: these, as a result of their obedience to their Lord, receive the dwelling-place which is the gardens of ʿAdn.
We have explained elsewhere the meaning of His word عَدْنٍ — that it has the meaning of the abode in which there is no departing.
And His word وَمَنْ صَلَحَ مِنْ آبَائِهِمْ وَأَزْوَاجِهِمْ وَذُرِّيَّاتِهِمْ — Allah the Exalted says: the gardens of ʿAdn will be entered by these people whose qualities He described: those who fulfill the covenant with Allah, those who maintain what Allah commanded to be maintained and fear their Lord, those who showed patience desiring the Face of their Lord, perform the ritual prayer and performed the deeds which Allah the Exalted mentioned in these three verses — وَمَنْ صَلَحَ مِنْ آبَائِهِمْ وَأَزْوَاجِهِمْ — these are their spouses and household members — "and their offspring." And "their righteousness" is their faith in Allah and the following of His command and the command of His Messenger ﷺ. As:
20338 — Al-Ḥasan b. Muḥammad related to us, saying: Šabāba related to us, saying: Warqāʾ related to us, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning His word وَمَنْ صَلَحَ مِنْ آبَائِهِمْ : he said: whoever believed in the worldly life.
20339 — Al-Mutannā related to me, saying: Abū Ḥuḏayfa related to us, saying: Šibl related to us, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid.
20340 — And Isḥāq related to us, saying: ʿAbd Allāh related to us, on the authority of Warqāʾ, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid — the same.
20341 — Al-Qāsim related to us, saying: Al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Ḥajjāj related to me, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning His word وَمَنْ صَلَحَ مِنْ آبَائِهِمْ : he said: whoever of their fathers, spouses, and offspring believed.
And His word وَالْمَلائِكَةُ يَدْخُلُونَ عَلَيْهِمْ مِنْ كُلِّ بَابٍ سَلامٌ عَلَيْكُمْ بِمَا صَبَرْتُمْ — Allah the Exalted says: and the angels enter upon these — whose qualities Allah the Exalted described in these three verses — the gardens of ʿAdn, from every gate of it.
