The Scent of Paradise and the Deprivation of Some People from It
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The questioner:
Allah says: Do the people of Paradise enter it without a scent? Just as al-Nazir (may Allah have mercy on him) said, this is part of the perfection of [Paradise].
The Shaykh:
He did not say they enter it; he said that when they enter it, their creation becomes such and such. Yes.
The questioner:
And how do we write about a place?
The Shaykh:
We do not add anything from ourselves. Yes.
The questioner:
And how do we reconcile this with the statement of Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her) regarding the adornment of men with the sea?
The Shaykh:
This is in this world; this is in this world. The Hereafter differs from this world. Yes.
The questioner:
As he said to you authentically: Does it not make sense to reconcile the fact that the scent of Paradise is according to the state of the sweet [water]? The highest in rank smells it from forty [cubits], and so on. And the Sadiqun and the martyrs smell it before others. This is because it is reported in the *Nasa' al-Kafiyat al-'Ariyat* that they do not enter Paradise, but its scent [reaches them], and its scent is like the scent of such and such.
The Shaykh:
This is what al-Nazir mentioned. It is a correct meaning. It is what al-Nazir mentioned, but it is also a correct meaning: that it is according to faith, the strength or weakness of faith, and that some Muslims are deprived of the scent of Paradise, even if they are not disbelievers, as a punishment from the high ranks of the *Kafiyat al-'Ariyat*.
Allah says: Do the people of Paradise enter it without a scent? Just as al-Nazir (may Allah have mercy on him) said, this is part of the perfection of [Paradise].
The Shaykh:
He did not say they enter it; he said that when they enter it, their creation becomes such and such. Yes.
The questioner:
And how do we write about a place?
The Shaykh:
We do not add anything from ourselves. Yes.
The questioner:
And how do we reconcile this with the statement of Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her) regarding the adornment of men with the sea?
The Shaykh:
This is in this world; this is in this world. The Hereafter differs from this world. Yes.
The questioner:
As he said to you authentically: Does it not make sense to reconcile the fact that the scent of Paradise is according to the state of the sweet [water]? The highest in rank smells it from forty [cubits], and so on. And the Sadiqun and the martyrs smell it before others. This is because it is reported in the *Nasa' al-Kafiyat al-'Ariyat* that they do not enter Paradise, but its scent [reaches them], and its scent is like the scent of such and such.
The Shaykh:
This is what al-Nazir mentioned. It is a correct meaning. It is what al-Nazir mentioned, but it is also a correct meaning: that it is according to faith, the strength or weakness of faith, and that some Muslims are deprived of the scent of Paradise, even if they are not disbelievers, as a punishment from the high ranks of the *Kafiyat al-'Ariyat*.
Source
شرح نونية ابن القيم [57] — alfawzan.live (1:16:53)
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.