rivers flowing under them, remaining in themtimelessly, forever, and
fine dwellings in the Gardens of Eden. And Allah's good pleasure is
even greater. That is the great victory. (Surat at-Tawba, 72)
Earlier, we looked at the dazzling blessings found in Paradise. The
picture that emerges is one of letting people experience the greatest
pleasures and delights ofthe five senses.
But the biggest blessing of all is Allah's good pleasure, and the joy
and happiness a believerfeels when he or she wins it. As one hadith
also relates: "Allah wouldsay to the inmates of Paradise: 'I shall
cause My pleasure to alight upon you' " (Muslim). Moreover, being
contentwith everything that Allah has given and offering Him continual
thanksgiving brings a noble contentment. The Qur'an draws our
attention to this, as follows:
Allah is pleased with them and they are pleased with Him. That isthe
Great Victory. (Surat al-Ma'ida, 119)
The most striking expression of what believers feel when they win
Allah's good pleasure is that He will manifest Himself to themin a way
that they can see Him. This is impossible in the world because, as the
Qur'an says: "Eyesight cannot perceive Him" (Surat al-An'am, 10) But
according to the Qur'an, in the next life and in a certain way Allah
will manifest Himself to His believing servants. Only Allah knows how
this will happen. But we are informed in the Qur'an that the
believers' "facesthat Day will be radiant, gazing at their Lord"
(Surat al-Qiyama, 22-23) and "'Peace!' A word from a Merciful Lord"
(Surah Ya sin, 58) will be heard. Believers will be"on seats of honor
in thepresence of an All-Powerful King" (Suratal-Qamar, 55).
In other words, the greatest possible blessing that believers can have
is the deep sense of Allah's mercy and will. By winning His good
pleasure, they experience a joy and a happiness that cannot be
compared with any material blessing.
Actually, it is Allah's will that gives value to Paradise's other
blessings. The same blessings may exist on Earth to a certain
extent,but they have no meaning for believers aslong as they surpass
the limits Allah established.
Believers should think carefully about this extremely important point.
The real thing thatgives a blessing its value is something far beyond
its intrinsic pleasure and delight, for its real value lies in the
fact that Allah"granted" it. Believers who use the blessing and thank
Allah for it feel that they have received Allah's gift; thatthe Lord
loves, protects, and looks after them; and gives them a taste ofHis
mercy. They take realjoy from this.
A blessing is not an end; rather, it is a means to an end. As its
purpose is to encourage men and women to offer greater thanksgiving to
Allah, all of Paradise's blessings have only one goal: To lead
believers to offer eternal thanksgiving to Allah. This is what gives
them their value. In short, the blessings of Paradise are no more than
a means whereby believers can approach Allah and attain the
indescribable joy of winning His eternal friendship, love, and
approval. This is why Allah's good pleasure is the greatest blessing
of Paradise and far above all other material pleasures.
Let us consider one of Paradise's most striking blessings, one that is
frequently mentioned in the Qur'an: beautiful women, who represent the
height of the aesthetic idea. Just to be with them is a great
blessing. The Qur'an describes the beauty of their faces, their skin,
and even their bosoms. With these magnificent women, one of Allah's
greatest material blessings - sexuality - canbe experienced
eternallyin the most wonderful way. In the same manner, unmarried
women will be married to young palace servants. This also is a free
gift to them from Allah.
However, what makes these women so valuable is not merely their
beauty, but the factthat they are known to be a gift from Allah.
Indeed, the greatest pleasure that can be hadis that which comes
fromreceiving the love, closeness, grace, and benevolence of the
Giver. No matter how valuable a gift may be, Allah's gift is more
valuable for the pleasureit gives in being deemedworthy to be of the
gifts of Allah, Lord of the Worlds, and in receiving it.
Accordingly, if they werenot Allah's gifts, all blessings would lose
their meaning for a believer. Prophet Yusuf's(as) great nobility
orients a believer's moral sense in that direction. The Qur'an tells
how the wife of an Egyptian governor, desired Yusuf (as) and even
forced herself on him. We are told that Yusuf (as) found her
attractive, but avoided this forbidden relationship due to Allah's
sign to him. Whenshe continued to press him, he preferred to go to
prison rather than to commit adultery. He said: "My Lord, prison is
preferable to me than what they call on me to do" (Surah Yusuf, 33).
The fact that he found the prison's extremely difficult conditions
preferable to what the governor's wife wanted him to do shows the
importance that a believer places upon Allah's good pleasure. Toact in
such a manner andto know that you have gained His approval is the most
important thing in a believer's heart. If material blessings present
themselves to a believer in a way that goes against Allah's good
pleasure, they lose their value.
In Paradise, all material blessings are approved by Allah. He
especially created beautiful women and gives them as a gift to
believers. Houses, food, natural beauty, and everything else are
blessings that Allah offers, and this is what makes them valuable.
Thus, the human heart can be satisfied only in Paradise, for it was
created to serve Allah and takes pleasure only in His generously given
gifts. In this world, it takes refuge in places that are reminiscent
of Paradise; that is, in places whose blessings are used with thanks
and in a way that gains Allah's good pleasure. This is why Paradise on
Earth, the ideal long cherished by unbelieversand atheists, is
impossible. If you were to take things in this world that resemble
Paradise's material beauties and gather them in one place, they would
have no meaning without Allah's approval.Moreover, He may also destroy
the pleasure thatmight be derived from such material beauties.
In short, Paradise is a gift of Allah and is valuable only because
ofthat. The people of Paradise experience eternal happiness and joy
because "they are honored servants" (Suratan-Anbiya', 26).
The wisest word that canbe spoken there is a word that praises Allah's
mighty name: "Master of Majesty and Generosity" (Surat ar-Rahman, 78).
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