Exegesis of the verse: ((Those are the limits of Allah, and whoever obeys Allah and His Messenger, He will admit him to gardens under which rivers flow, to abide therein forever. And that is the great success.))

I seek refuge in Allah from Satan, the accursed. Allah, Blessed and Exalted is He, said: This is composed of a subject and a predicate. The subject is the demonstrative pronoun and the predicate is . The referent is the inheritance mentioned previously in the verse, though it is possible that the referent is all the rulings mentioned before this sentence. This is because the Qur'an, although its verses are distinct, is in reality one single discourse in terms of meaning and context. The meaning of our saying "one discourse" is that some of it is built upon some of it. For this reason, some exegetes have taken care to explain the coherence of the verses, just as some have taken care to explain the coherence of the surahs. This is a good area of study. However, if someone were to say that the reference returns to the nearest mentioned item according to the rule that a pronoun returns to the nearest mentioned item, and likewise a demonstrative pronoun returns to the nearest mentioned item, then the intended referent here would be what was mentioned in this verse: . His saying: is the plural of *hadd* (limit), and a limit is the thing that separates two things. From this comes the term for the boundaries of the land separating one from another. The limits of Allah, Mighty and Majestic, are divided into two categories: limits of obligations and limits of prohibitions. As for the limits of obligations, they are what Allah has made obligatory upon His servants with their conditions, pillars, and obligations. As for the limits of prohibitions, they are what Allah has forbidden upon His servants, such as unlawful sexual intercourse, sodomy, drinking intoxicants, killing the soul, and others. The scholars said: If Allah says: it is from the limits of commands. If He says: it is from the limits of prohibitions. For example, we say that unlawful sexual intercourse is a limit of Allah: do not approach it. And prayer is a limit of Allah: do not transgress, meaning do not exceed and do not transgress. He said: Is this verse here from the limits of commands or prohibitions? It is from the limits of commands. Then He said: This sentence is conditional. The conditional noun in it is "whoever" and the conditional verb is , which is in the jussive case by sukun, as is apparent. The original form of is "obeys", but the yaa was deleted due to the meeting of two sukuns, because the 'ayn was entitled to sukun by the condition and it is already at rest. Ibn Malik said in the *Kafiyyah*:
If two at-rest letters meet, break what precedes, and if it is soft, its deletion is entitled.
If two at-rest letters meet, break what precedes, and if it is soft, meaning a letter from the three soft letters, its deletion is entitled. Which type does the verse apply to? The second type, except in His saying: where the 'ayn is broken, so it is of the first type. Thus, the verse combines both aspects. What is obedience? The scholars said obedience is conforming to the command, and it is achieved by performing the commands and avoiding the prohibitions. So, the one who leaves drinking intoxicants in obedience... Allah, Mighty and Majestic, is said to be obedient. And the one who prays is said to be obedient. This is if obedience is mentioned alone, for it includes performing the commands and leaving the sins. But if it is paired with disobedience, for example, if it is said: "Whoever obeys Allah and whoever disobeys Allah", then obedience is specifically in the commands and disobedience is in the prohibitions. Is the verse with us now of the second type or the first? The first. What is the second and what is the first? Paired with "disobeys." So, the intended meaning is performing the commands. The name of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) or his description is coordinated with His name, the Exalted, because obedience to the Messenger is from obedience to Allah, as He, the Exalted, said: And His saying: the intended meaning at the time of the revelation of the Qur'an is a specific Messenger, and that is Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him). But when the previous legislations are established, the intended meaning of the Messenger is the one whose legislation is established. So, in the era of Jesus, the intended Messenger is 'Isa, and in the era of Moses, the intended Messenger is Musa, and so on. But after the sending of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), the intended Messenger is Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him). This is the answer to the condition, and it is in the jussive case by sukun. The requirement of rational indication is that the condition is followed by the conditioned. So, the conditioned here is the obedience, or the condition is the obedience and the conditioned is the reward and the recompense. So, the conditioned follows the condition rationally. Here, His saying: is... what Allah, Mighty and Majestic, has conditioned for whoever obeys Him. So, it is a necessary result due to the truthfulness of the one who informs about it, and who is that? Allah, Mighty and Majestic, because the one who informs about it is Allah, and He is the most truthful of speakers, and the one who informs about it is capable of doing it. For this reason, you find that Allah, the Exalted, says in the Qur'an: because He is perfect in truthfulness and perfect in power. Breaking a promise comes from one of two things: either lying, meaning the lie of the promise, or incapacity, meaning the lack of ability. And Allah, Mighty and Majestic, does not break the promise. is the plural of *jannah* (garden), and it is originally: the orchard with many trees. It is called that because it conceals whoever is in it due to the abundance of its trees. And this root "the jimm and the noon" indicates concealment. Look at the word "the hearts", which is the heart because it is concealed. "the fetuses", which are the pregnancies in the wombs of mothers because they are concealed. "the jinn", because they are concealed. "the garden", what the fighter conceals himself with because it conceals him. So, this root revolves around this meaning. Thus, the gardens are the orchards with many trees. But it is not appropriate for us to interpret it in this place with this meaning, because if you interpret it with this meaning, it is as if you have restricted its meaning to what people know, and you will diminish the importance of the promised Paradise. For this reason, it should be interpreted — I mean the gardens of bliss — as the abode that Allah has prepared for His awliya (close friends of Allah), and in it is what no eye has seen, no ear has heard, and what has not occurred to the heart of any human being. If you interpret it with this interpretation, its majesty remains in the souls. But if you interpret it with the first meaning, a person might imagine and say this is like the orchard of so-and-so, with many trees and many date palms and the like. And it is greater than what is in the world by multiplied multiples, and none knows it except Allah. Ibn 'Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) said: "There is nothing in Paradise from what is in the world except the names; otherwise, the realities differ. Allah, the Exalted, said:

And therein is whatever the souls desire and [what] delights the eyes, and you will abide therein eternally.

وفيها ما تشتهيه الأنفس وتلذ الأعين وأنتم فيها خالدون

[Az-Zukhruf 43:71]

And He said:

And no soul knows what has been hidden for them of comfort for eyes as reward for what they used to do.

فلا تعلم نفس ما أخفي لهم من قرة أعين جزاء بما كانوا يعملون

[As-Sajdah 32:17]

. And in the Holy Hadith:

I have prepared for My righteous slaves (such excellent things) as no eye has ever seen, nor an ear has ever heard nor a human heart can ever think of.

أعددت لعبادي الصالحين ما لا عين رأت ولا أذن سمعت ولا خطر على قلب بشر

Sahih al-Bukhari 7498

. And His saying:

beneath which rivers flow

تجري من تحتها الأنهار

[Al-Baqarah 2:25]

sail

تجري

The flowing is known, and it is the movement of water on the earth. And His saying:

beneath them

من تحتها

means from under these gardens, meaning trees... and shade and rivers flowing. If a person were to imagine this bliss, he would find it the greatest bliss. And these rivers, Allah, Mighty and Majestic, interpreted them in the Surah al-Qital by His saying:

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

فيها أنهار من ماء غير آسن وأنهار من لبن لم يتغير طعمه وأنهار من خمر لذة للشاربين وأنهار من عسل مصفى

[Muhammad 47:15]

It is not the honey of bees, but pure honey that Allah created it this way. Milk that is not the milk of cows or sheep, but rivers that Allah, Mighty and Majestic, created. Likewise, the water does not become stale no matter how long it remains, unlike the water of the earth, which becomes stale, meaning its smell changes with prolonged staying. The wine is a pleasure in which there is no intoxication, and about which they do not feel any pain. And His saying:

beneath which rivers flow

من تحتها الأنهار

[Al-Baqarah 2:25]

The scholars said that it flows from under them, it does not need a structure to prevent the seepage of water, nor does it need digging a trench. It flows like this wherever you want. Ibn al-Qayyim said in the *Al-Nuniyyah*:
Its rivers flow in no trench, glory to the One who holds them back from overflowing
They are rivers that do not require digging banks or establishing boundaries; they flow thus upon the earth. The scholars also said that they flow wherever a person desires, instead of him bringing building materials and directing them, he desires them with his heart or commands them with his tongue. — May Allah make us among their people —

Abiding therein forever, and that is the great success.

خالدين فيها وذك الفوز العظيم

Abiding therein.

خالدين

This is a *hal* (circumstantial phrase). A *hal* from where? From the pronoun in

Enters it.

يدخله

But there is a difficulty: the *hal* is like an adjective, and an adjective follows the described noun in its singularity, duality, and plurality. Here, the possessor of the *hal* is singular, but the *hal* is plural. How is the answer? The answer is to say that the possessor of the *hal* refers back to the conditional " who ". In the conditional " who", it is permissible to consider its form or its meaning. If you consider the form, you return the pronoun to it as singular; if you consider the meaning, you return the pronoun to it as plural. Likewise, what resembles a pronoun, such as the *hal* and the attribute and what is similar to them, it is permissible to consider the meaning or the form. Here it says: So the form is in his saying: and the meaning is in his saying: . And it is permissible to consider the form and the meaning and then return a second time to considering the form. Allah the Exalted said at the end of Surat al-Talaq: So he considered the form in the first, then considered the meaning, then considered the form. And this is permissible in the Arabic language. It says: His saying: "eternal abode" — the scholars said it is permanent staying, unless there is evidence that it is temporary, in which case it is intended to mean long staying; otherwise, the original meaning of "eternal abode" is permanence. But if there is evidence that the intended meaning is long staying, that is acted upon. The thing referred to is the reward mentioned that Allah has prepared for those who obey Him. "Victory" means profit. It is said: "So-and-so won," meaning he profited. And "great" means possessing greatness. And greatness is the magnitude of a thing, the nobility of a thing, and the abundance of a thing as well.