Tafseer of Muhammad · Muhammad · 47:15
Is the description of Paradise, which the righteous are promised, wherein are rivers of water unaltered, rivers of milk the taste of which never changes, rivers of wine delicious to those who drink, and rivers of purified honey, in which they will have from all [kinds of] fruits and forgiveness from their Lord, like [that of] those who abide eternally in the Fire and are given to drink scalding water that will sever their intestines?
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.
The explanation of the saying of the Exalted: مَثَلُ الْجَنَّةِ الَّتِي وُعِدَ الْمُتَّقُونَ فِيهَا أَنْهَارٌ مِنْ مَاءٍ غَيْرِ آسِنٍ وَأَنْهَارٌ مِنْ لَبَنٍ لَمْ يَتَغَيَّرْ طَعْمُهُ وَأَنْهَارٌ مِنْ خَمْرٍ لَذَّةٍ لِلشَّارِبِينَ وَأَنْهَارٌ مِنْ عَسَلٍ مُصَفًّى وَلَهُمْ فِيهَا مِنْ كُلِّ الثَّمَرَاتِ وَمَغْفِرَةٌ مِنْ رَبِّهِمْ كَمَنْ هُوَ خَالِدٌ فِي النَّارِ وَسُقُوا مَاءً حَمِيمًا فَقَطَّعَ أَمْعَاءَهُمْ (The likeness of the Garden which the God-fearing are promised: therein are rivers of water that does not spoil, and rivers of milk whose taste does not change, and rivers of wine, a delight to the drinkers, and rivers of purified honey; and they have therein of all fruits, and forgiveness from their Lord. Is that like one who abides eternally in the Fire, and who is given to drink boiling water so that it rends their bowels?) (47:15).
The Exalted, whose remembrance is exalted, says: the description of the Garden which the God-fearing are promised — and they are those who in this world feared His punishment by fulfilling His obligations and avoiding disobedience toward Him — فِيهَا أَنْهَارٌ مِنْ مَاءٍ غَيْرِ آسِنٍ (therein are rivers of water that does not spoil). The Exalted, whose remembrance is exalted, says: in this Garden which He has mentioned are rivers of water whose smell has not changed. One says of it: "the water of this well has spoiled" (asina) when the smell of its water has changed and become foul; it is "yaʾsanu asanan." And likewise one says of a man, when a foul smell strikes him: "he has become spoiled" (asina), it is "yaʾsanu." But when the water becomes stagnant (ajana) and changes, then one says of it: "asina, it is yaʾsanu," and "yaʾsunu asūnan," and "water that is asin."
And just as we have said concerning the meaning of His saying مِنْ مَاءٍ غَيْرِ آسِنٍ (of water that does not spoil), so too have the people of interpretation spoken.
* Mention of who said that:
ʿAlī related to me, saying: Abū Ṣāliḥ related to us, saying: Muʿāwiya related to me, on the authority of ʿAlī, from Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning His saying فِيهَا أَنْهَارٌ مِنْ مَاءٍ غَيْرِ آسِنٍ (therein are rivers of water that does not spoil), he says: not changed.
Ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us, saying: Ibn Thawr related to us, on the authority of Maʿmar, from Qatāda, concerning His saying أَنْهَارٌ مِنْ مَاءٍ غَيْرِ آسِنٍ (rivers of water that does not spoil), he said: of water that is not foul.
ʿĪsā ibn ʿAmr related to me, saying: Ibrāhīm ibn Muḥammad informed us, saying: Muṣʿab ibn Sallām related to us, on the authority of Saʿd ibn Ṭarīf, saying: I asked Abū Isḥāq about مَاءٍ غَيْرِ آسِنٍ (water that does not spoil). He said: I asked al-Ḥārith about it, and he told me that the water that does not spoil is Tasnīm. He said: it has been related to me that no hand touches it, and that the water comes thus until it enters his mouth. And His saying وَأَنْهَارٌ مِنْ لَبَنٍ لَمْ يَتَغَيَّرْ طَعْمُهُ (and rivers of milk whose taste does not change). The Exalted, whose remembrance is exalted, says: and therein are rivers of milk whose taste has not changed, because it was not milked from an animal so that its taste would change through coming out of the udders; rather Allah created it from the outset in the rivers, and it is in its form as He created it, unchanged.
And His saying وَأَنْهَارٌ مِنْ خَمْرٍ لَذَّةٍ لِلشَّارِبِينَ (and rivers of wine, a delight to the drinkers). He says: and therein are rivers of wine, a delight to the drinkers, who take pleasure in drinking it.
As ʿĪsā related to me, saying: Ibrāhīm ibn Muḥammad related to us, saying: Muṣʿab related to us, on the authority of Saʿd ibn Ṭarīf, saying: I asked al-Ḥārith about it, and he said: the Magians (al-majūs) have not trodden it, satan has not blown into it, no sun has harmed it, but it is fawḥāʾ. He said: I said to ʿIkrima: what is fawḥāʾ? He said: the yellow.
And as Saʿd ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿAbd al-Ḥakam related to me, saying: Ḥafṣ ibn ʿUmar related to us, saying: al-Ḥakam ibn Abān related to us, on the authority of ʿIkrima, concerning His saying مِنْ لَبَنٍ لَمْ يَتَغَيَّرْ طَعْمُهُ (of milk whose taste does not change), he said: it has not been milked. And "al-ladhdha" (delight) has been put in the genitive as an adjectival qualifier of "al-khamr" (the wine). And had it come in the nominative as an adjectival qualifier of "al-anhār" (the rivers), that would have been permissible; or in the accusative with the meaning "one takes pleasure therein with a delight," as one says: "this is for you as a gift (hiba)" — that would be permissible. As for the recitation, however, I permit nothing in it other than the genitive, on account of the agreement of the authoritative proof among the reciters concerning that.
And His saying وَأَنْهَارٌ مِنْ عَسَلٍ مُصَفًّى (and rivers of purified honey). He says: and therein are rivers of honey purified of the dregs and of what is found in the honey of the people of this world before purification. The Exalted, whose remembrance is exalted, has only made His servants know, by describing that honey as purified, that it was created from the outset in the rivers, flowing and streaming as the water and the milk created therein flow; and for that reason it is purified: Allah purified it of the dregs found in the honey of the people of this world, which is not made clean of the dregs except after purification, because it was in the comb and was purified out of it.
And His saying وَلَهُمْ فِيهَا مِنْ كُلِّ الثَّمَرَاتِ (and they have therein of all fruits). The Exalted, whose remembrance is exalted, says: and these God-fearing ones have in this Garden, alongside these rivers we have mentioned, of all the fruits that grow on the trees. وَمَغْفِرَةٌ مِنْ رَبِّهِمْ (and forgiveness from their Lord). He says: and remission from Allah for them for their sins which they committed in this world and of which they then repented, and pardon from Him for them from the punishment for it.
And His saying كَمَنْ هُوَ خَالِدٌ فِي النَّارِ (like one who abides eternally in the Fire). The Exalted, whose remembrance is exalted, says: is he who is in this Garden whose description is what we have described like him who abides eternally in the Fire? And the saying begins with the description of the Garden, so it was said "the likeness of the Garden which the God-fearing are promised," and it was not said "is he who is in the Garden." Then, after the completion of the report about the Garden and its description, it was said كَمَنْ هُوَ خَالِدٌ فِي النَّارِ (like one who abides eternally in the Fire). That was only said thus out of reliance upon the listener's knowledge of the meaning of the saying, and because His saying كَمَنْ هُوَ خَالِدٌ فِي النَّارِ (like one who abides eternally in the Fire) points to the meaning of His saying مَثَلُ الْجَنَّةِ الَّتِي وُعِدَ الْمُتَّقُونَ (the likeness of the Garden which the God-fearing are promised).
And His saying وَسُقُوا مَاءً حَمِيمًا (and who are given to drink boiling water). The Exalted, whose remembrance is exalted, says: and those who abide eternally in the Fire are given to drink water whose heat has reached its utmost, so that that water, through the severity of its heat, rends their bowels.
As Muḥammad ibn Khalaf al-ʿAsqalānī related to me, saying: Ḥaywa ibn Shurayḥ al-Ḥimṣī related to us, saying: Baqiyya related to us, on the authority of Ṣafwān ibn ʿAmr, saying: ʿUbayd Allāh ibn Bishr related to me, on the authority of Abū Umāma al-Bāhilī, from the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, and [concerning] His saying وَيُسْقَى مِنْ مَاءٍ صَدِيدٍ * يَتَجَرَّعُهُ (and he will be given to drink festering water * which he will gulp down with difficulty), he said: "It is brought near to him and he loathes it, and when it is brought close to him it scorches his face and the skin of his head falls off; and when he drinks, it rends his bowels until it comes out from his rear." He said: Allah says وَسُقُوا مَاءً حَمِيمًا فَقَطَّعَ أَمْعَاءَهُمْ (and who are given to drink boiling water so that it rends their bowels). Allah, mighty and exalted is He, says يَشْوِي الْوُجُوهَ بِئْسَ الشَّرَابُ وَسَاءَتْ مُرْتَفَقًا (it scorches the faces; what a wretched drink and what an evil resting place).
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Footnotes:
(1) In the Lisān [al-ʿArab]: "al-fawḥ" is the perceiving of the pleasant smell. "Fāḥat rīḥu l-misk" (the smell of the musk spread), "tafūḥu" and "tafīḥu," "fawḥan" and "fayḥan," and "fawaḥānan" and "fayaḥānan": its smell spread.
