Tafseer of The Criterion · Al-Furqaan · 25:10
Blessed is He who, if He willed, could have made for you [something] better than that - gardens beneath which rivers flow - and could make for you palaces.
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.
Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr related to me, saying: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us, saying: ʿĪsā related to us; and al-Ḥārith related to me, saying: al-Ḥasan related to us, saying: Warqāʾ related to us — both on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning His word: تَبَارَكَ الَّذِي إِنْ شَاءَ جَعَلَ لَكَ خَيْرًا مِنْ ذَلِكَ (Blessed is He Who, if He wills, would make for you better than that): better than what they said.
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: تَبَارَكَ الَّذِي إِنْ شَاءَ جَعَلَ لَكَ خَيْرًا مِنْ ذَلِكَ — he said: Better than what they said and desired for you. He would then make for you, in place of that, gardens (jannāt) through which rivers flow.
Others said: What is meant by it is the walking about in the markets and the seeking of livelihood.
Mention of who said that:
Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Salama related to us, on the authority of Ibn Isḥāq, on the authority of Muḥammad ibn Abī Muḥammad — according to the judgment of al-Ṭabarī — on the authority of Saʿīd ibn Jubayr or ʿIkrima, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, who said: Then He said: تَبَارَكَ الَّذِي إِنْ شَاءَ جَعَلَ لَكَ خَيْرًا مِنْ ذَلِكَ (Blessed is He Who, if He wills, would make for you better than that) — better than walking about in the markets and seeking livelihood as people seek it: جَنَّاتٍ تَجْرِي مِنْ تَحْتِهَا الأنْهَارُ وَيَجْعَلْ لَكَ قُصُورًا (gardens through which rivers flow, and he would make for you palaces).
Imam al-Ṭabarī says: The view which we have mentioned from Mujāhid is, concerning the interpretation of this verse, the most fitting, because the polytheists (mushrikīn) regarded it as a great thing that there was for him no garden from which to eat, that no treasure was cast down to him, and that he walked about in the markets while he was the Messenger of Allah. Therefore, what most corresponds to Allah's promise to him is that it would be a promise of something better than what the polytheists regarded as a great thing, not something that was deemed reprehensible among them. By His word: جَنَّاتٍ تَجْرِي مِنْ تَحْتِهَا الأنْهَارُ (gardens through which rivers flow) He means: orchards through which, at the roots of the trees, rivers flow.
As Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr related to us, saying: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us, saying: ʿĪsā related to us; and al-Ḥārith related to me, saying: al-Ḥasan related to us, saying: Warqāʾ related to us — both on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid: جَنَّاتٍ تَجْرِي مِنْ تَحْتِهَا الأنْهَارُ — he said: walled gardens (ḥawāʾiṭ).
His word: وَيَجْعَلْ لَكَ قُصُورًا — by "quṣūr" (palaces) He means: built dwellings.
Along the lines of what we have said concerning this, the exegetes also spoke.
Mention of who said that:
Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr related to me, saying: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us, saying: ʿĪsā related to us; and al-Ḥārith related to me, saying: al-Ḥasan related to us, saying: Warqāʾ related to us — both on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid: وَيَجْعَلْ لَكَ قُصُورًا — he said: built, high-raised dwellings, that would be in this life. He said: The Quraysh regarded a stone structure as a palace, whatever it was.
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: وَيَجْعَلْ لَكَ قُصُورًا — high-raised dwellings in this life; all this the Quraysh said. And the Quraysh regarded a stone structure — neither small nor great — as a palace.
Ibn Bāshar related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Raḥmān related to us, saying: Sufyān related to us, on the authority of Ḥabīb, who said: It was said to the Prophet ﷺ: If you wish, We will give you of the treasures of the earth and its keys what was given to no prophet before you nor will be given to anyone after you, while that diminishes nothing of your rank with Allah — the Exalted. He said: "Store all of that up for me in the Hereafter." Thereupon Allah revealed concerning that: تَبَارَكَ الَّذِي إِنْ شَاءَ جَعَلَ لَكَ خَيْرًا مِنْ ذَلِكَ جَنَّاتٍ تَجْرِي مِنْ تَحْتِهَا الأنْهَارُ وَيَجْعَلْ لَكَ قُصُورًا (Blessed is He Who, if He wills, would make for you better than that: gardens through which rivers flow, and He would make for you palaces).
