Tafseer of The Thunder · Ar-Ra'd · 13:24
"Peace be upon you for what you patiently endured. And excellent is the final home."
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.
They say to them: سلام عليكم بما صبرتم ("Peace be upon you, because of your patience") — that is, patience in obedience to your Lord in this world — فنعم عقبى الدار ("and how excellent is the final outcome of the Abode").
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And it has been related that the Gardens of ʿAdn (jannāt ʿAdn) have five thousand gates.
20342- Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Isḥāq related to us, saying: ʿAlī ibn Jarīr related to us, saying: Ḥammād ibn Salama related to us, on the authority of Yaʿlā ibn ʿAṭāʾ, on the authority of Nāfiʿ ibn ʿĀṣim, on the authority of ʿAbdallāh ibn ʿAmr, who said: In Paradise there is a palace called "ʿAdn"; around it are towers and meadows, and in it are five thousand gates; at each gate are five thousand ḥibara-garments (a kind of striped cloth from Yemen). None enters it but a prophet, a truthful one (ṣiddīq), or a martyr (shahīd).
20343- [illegible] said: Isḥāq related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Mughrāʾ related to us, on the authority of Juwaybir, on the authority of al-Ḍaḥḥāk, concerning His word: جنات عدن ("the Gardens of ʿAdn"), he said: It is the city of Paradise; in it are the messengers, the prophets, the martyrs, and the leaders of right guidance, and the people are around them, in the number of the gardens that surround them.
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And from His word والملائكة يدخلون عليهم من كل باب سلام عليكم ("and the angels enter upon them through every gate: peace be upon you"), the word "they say" has been omitted, because the wording sufficiently indicates it, just as it has been omitted from His word: وَلَوْ تَرَى إِذِ الْمُجْرِمُونَ نَاكِسُو رُءُوسِهِمْ عِنْدَ رَبِّهِمْ رَبَّنَا أَبْصَرْنَا ("And if you were to see when the criminals bow their heads before their Lord: 'Our Lord, we have seen…'") [Surah As-Sajdah:12].
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20344- Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Suwayd related to us, saying: Ibn al-Mubārak informed us, on the authority of Baqiyya ibn al-Walīd, who said: Arṭāt ibn al-Mundhir related to me, saying: I heard a man from the elders of al-Jund, who was called "Abū al-Ḥajjāj," say: I was sitting with Abū Umāma, and he said: Truly, the believer will sit reclining on his couch when he enters Paradise, and beside him are two rows of attendants, and at the end of the two rows is a gate with a gatekeeper (bābun mubawwab). Then the angel comes and asks permission to enter; the furthest attendant says to the one beside him: "An angel asks permission," and the one beside him says to the one beside him: "An angel asks permission," until it reaches the believer, and he says: "Give permission." Then the one closest to the believer says: "Give permission," and the one beside him says to the one beside him: "Give permission," and so on until it reaches the furthest one, who stands at the gate, and he opens for him; then he enters, gives the greeting, and then departs.
20345- Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Suwayd related to us, saying: Ibn al-Mubārak informed us, on the authority of Ibrāhīm ibn Muḥammad, on the authority of Suhayl ibn Abī Ṣāliḥ, on the authority of Muḥammad ibn Ibrāhīm, who said: The Prophet ﷺ used to come at the beginning of each year to the graves of the martyrs and say: "Peace be upon you, because of your patience; and how excellent is the final outcome of the Abode," and Abū Bakr, ʿUmar, and ʿUthmān also did this.
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As for His word سلام عليكم بما صبرتم ("peace be upon you, because of your patience"): the people of interpretation (ahl al-taʾwīl) have said concerning it approximately the same as what we have said concerning it.
* Mention of those who said that:
20346- Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Isḥāq related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Razzāq related to us, on the authority of Jaʿfar ibn Sulaymān, on the authority of Abū ʿImrān al-Jawnī, that he recited this verse: سلام عليكم بما صبرتم ("peace be upon you, because of your patience"), he said: because of your patience upon your religion.
20347- Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Ibn Zayd said, concerning His word سلام عليكم بما صبرتم ("peace be upon you, because of your patience"), he said: when they showed patience with what Allah loves and carried it out. And he recited: وَجَزَاهُمْ بِمَا صَبَرُوا جَنَّةً وَحَرِيرًا ("and He rewarded them, because of their patience, with a garden and silk"), until he reached: وَكَانَ سَعْيُكُمْ مَشْكُورًا ("and your striving is rewarded with thanks") [Surah Al-Insān:12-22]. And they showed patience in abstaining from what Allah detested and forbade them, and they showed patience in what was hard upon them but what Allah loved; therefore peace was wished upon them with that. And he recited: والملائكة يدخلون عليهم من كل باب سلام عليكم بما صبرتم فنعم عقبى الدار ("and the angels enter upon them through every gate: peace be upon you, because of your patience; and how excellent is the final outcome of the Abode").
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As for His word فنعم عقبى الدار ("and how excellent is the final outcome of the Abode"): its meaning is, if Allah wills, as follows:-
20348- Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Isḥāq related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Razzāq related to us, on the authority of Jaʿfar, on the authority of Abū ʿImrān al-Jawnī, concerning their word فنعم عقبى الدار ("and how excellent is the final outcome of the Abode"), he said: Paradise in place of the Fire.
