Tafseer of The Thunder · Ar-Ra'd · 13:35
The example of Paradise, which the righteous have been promised, is [that] beneath it rivers flow. Its fruit is lasting, and its shade. That is the consequence for the righteous, and the consequence for the disbelievers is the Fire.
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: The scholars of the Arabic language differed concerning what governs the subject "al-mathal" (the likeness).
Some of the grammarians of Kūfa said: what governs "al-mathal" is His word تَجْرِي مِنْ تَحْتِهَا الأَنْهَارُ (through which rivers flow) in meaning. And he said: it is as when you say: "the description of someone — his complexion is dark, such and such" — "dark" is not governed by "the description" but is a fresh beginning, that is to say: he is dark, such is he. He said: if "anna" were inserted into it, it would be correct. He said: similar in usage is: "your likeness is that you are such and that you are such," and His word: فَلْيَنْظُرِ الإِنْسَانُ إِلَى طَعَامِهِ أَنَّا [Surah ʿAbasa 80:24-25]. The one who studies مَثَلُ الْجَنَّةِ الَّتِي وُعِدَ الْمُتَّقُونَ فِيهَا — and whoever says أَنَّا صَبَبْنَا الْمَاءَ — makes the noun explicit because it refers back to "al-ṭaʿām" as a further specification, and it is a fresh beginning, that is to say: his food is that We poured out the water and then did this. And he said: the meaning of His word مَثَلُ الْجَنَّةِ is: the attributes of Paradise.
And some of the grammarians of Basra said: the meaning of it is: the description of Paradise (ṣifat al-janna). He said: belonging to this is the word of Allah the Exalted: وَلَهُ الْمَثَلُ الأَعْلَى [Surah Al-Rūm 30:27] — the meaning is: and to Allah belongs the highest quality. He said: the meaning of the word in His word مَثَلُ الْجَنَّةِ الَّتِي وُعِدَ الْمُتَّقُونَ تَجْرِي مِنْ تَحْتِهَا الأَنْهَارُ is: in which there are rivers — as though He said: the description of Paradise is a description in which rivers flow beneath it, or a description in which there are rivers within it — and Allah knows best.
He said: there is yet another view — as though, when مَثَلُ الْجَنَّةِ is said, it is said: the Paradise that is promised to the God-fearing. He said: likewise is His word وَإِنَّهُ بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَنِ الرَّحِيمِ [Surah Al-Naml 27:30] — as though He said: in the name of Allah the Most Merciful the Most Compassionate — and Allah knows best.
He said: and His word عَلَى مَا فَرَّطْتُ فِي جَنْبِ اللَّهِ [Surah Al-Zumar 39:56] — in the matter of Allah, as if it had been said: concerning Allah.
He said: likewise is His word لَيْسَ كَمِثْلِهِ شَيْءٌ [Surah Al-Shūrā 42:11] — the meaning is only: there is nothing like Him, and there is nothing that is equal to Him, for He has no equal. He said: this is not like your saying to a man: "there is none like your equal," for he may have an equal. But with Allah that is not possible. He said: comparable to it is the saying of Labīd:
"Until the year — then may the greeting of peace be upon you both."
He said: and it was explained to us that he meant: peace be upon you both.
Aws ibn Ḥajar said:
"And noble slain men like tree-stumps, covered over by a pouring rain."
He said: the meaning, according to us, is: like tree-stumps — for he did not intend to make a likeness for the tree-stumps and compare the slain to them. He said: comparable to it is the saying of Umayya:
"Saturn and the bull beneath His right foot, and the eagle before the other, and a lurking lion."
He said: he said "beneath His right foot" as though he had said: beneath His foot, or beneath His right foot. He said: and the saying of Labīd:
"He lost his herd and the night visited him — a dripping night, its affair in the hands of the north wind."
As though he said: its affair concerns the north wind, toward the north wind. And likewise the saying of Labīd:
"Until she laid a hand in the darkness."
As though he said: until she descended into the darkness.
And another of them said: it belongs to that whose predicate has been cut off. He said: the Arabs do this. He said: and it has yet another meaning: لِلَّذِينَ اسْتَجَابُوا لِرَبِّهِمُ الْحُسْنَى — "the likeness of Paradise" is connected as an attribute of it, building upon the earlier passage.
Abū Jaʿfar said: The most correct of these statements is to say that the likeness (al-mathal) was mentioned, and it was said مَثَلُ الْجَنَّةِ — while Paradise is intended — after which Paradise was described with its attributes. This is because its likeness is only its description, and its description is not something outside itself. If that is so, and the likeness is then mentioned as مَثَلُ الْجَنَّةِ — and its likeness is its description and the description of Paradise — then describing it was like describing the likeness, and it was as though the words proceeded with mention of Paradise itself, so that it is said: Paradise has rivers that flow beneath it. As the poet — it is Jarīr — said:
"I see the passing of the years taking something from me, just as the new-moon waning takes from the crescent."
He mentioned "the passing" but returned in the statement to "the years."
And His word: أُكُلُهَا دَائِمٌ وَظِلُّهَا (its fruits are everlasting and its shade) — this means: what is eaten therein. He says: it is everlasting for its inhabitants, it does not cease for them, it does not perish nor do they perish — but it is enduring unto infinity. وَظِلُّهَا — He says: and its shade is also everlasting, for there is no sun therein.
تِلْكَ عُقْبَى الَّذِينَ اتَّقَوْا (that is the final outcome for the God-fearing) — He says: this Paradise that the Exalted has described is the best outcome for those who feared Allah, who avoided His acts of disobedience and fulfilled His obligations.
And His word: وَعُقْبَى الْكَافِرِينَ النَّارُ (and the final outcome for the disbelievers is the Fire) — He says: the final outcome for those who disbelieved in Allah is the Fire.
