14 Cities in the Garden: [Jannah: The Garden from the Qur'an and Hadith ]

There is a river known as "Rayyan" in the Garden. A city of coral has
been built upon it. It has seventy thousand gates of gold and silver.
(Ahmad Diya ad-Din al-Kamushkhanawi, Ramuz al-Ahadith, vol. 2, p.
326/4)
In the above hadith, our Prophet tells of gold andsilver, the symbols
of splendid wealth and art. Because both these metals are brilliant,
resilient, easy to shape and difficult to find they have held an
important place throughout history. There is only as much as 0.004
grams of gold in a ton of earth; the amount per ton obtained in gold
mines, however, varies between 6 and 12 grams. Therefore, to obtain a
gold plate, tons of rocks must be refined.The fact that gold is hardto
obtain and is rarer than other metals in the world increases its value
greatly. And this shiny, resilient and easy to shape metal has also a
strong aesthetic appeal to people.
There is solace and sweetness and a Garden of Delight. (Surat al-Waqi'a: 89)
The aesthetic and artisticvalue of gold makes it the metal of choice
in the production of fine works of art. Many of thethings we find rich
and extravagant are either made of gold or decorated with it. In the
adornment of objects, inbookbinding, calligraphy, miniatures and
illumination, gold is indispensable. The lavishuse of gold in the
dwellings described in the hadith is a blessing that people find
pleasing. In this world, people see gold often in the form of ingots;
once in a while they come across a few gold-plated objects and
accessories and perhaps even palaces with excessive use of gold such
as in gilt columns. All these things are amazing to those of us who
are accustomed to seeing only a few pieces of jewellery made of gold.
This being the case, we cannot easily imagine a skyscraper or a
mansion,a villa or a summer house made purely of gold. Just the idea
that there may be such thingsgives pleasure and excitement to the
human spirit. The hadithwe have quoted previously tells us that the
buildings in the Garden are made of goldand silver bricks. This
increases the beauty of the already splendid houses in the Garden and
makes them even more magnificent.
[It is built of] one brick of gold and one brick of silver, its
mortaris of strongly scented musk, its stones are pearls and emeralds,
and its soil is of saffron… (Narrated by Abu Hurayra, at-Tirmidhi)
In the hadith below, another aspect of the splendour of the Garden is
emphasised by reference to a gold pillar:
In the Garden there isa gold pillar with cities of beryl [a bright,
green precious stone resembling emerald] on it, and these shine like
stars in the Garden… (Ahmad Diya ad-Din al-Kamushkhanawi, Ramuz
al-Ahadith, vol. 1, p. 125/6)
Another interesting aspect of the above hadith is the high elevation
of the cities. Certainly in this world a highly elevated city is to be
preferred because of the view and refreshing climate. When we consider
that these citiesare in the splendid setting of the Garden, we can
better understand to what extent these dwellings will be pleasing to
the human spirit. These dwellings spoken of in the hadith – cities on
pillars – have a parallel in the verses of the Qur'an that tell us
about high-ceilinged halls builtone above the other:
But those who have taqwa of their Lord will have high-ceilinged Halls,
and more such Halls built one above theother, and rivers flowingunder
them. That is Allah's promise. Allah does not break His promise.
(Surat az-Zumar: 20)
When we think of life in a city, first of all, many problems come to
mind. Traffic, health, communication, air pollution,
infrastructure,water, electricity, telephones and security have become
matters that people have to struggle with. Many professions have even
come into existence to mitigate these problems and help people lead
more untroubled and ordered lives. The reasons for such problems will
be eradicated in the Gardenand there is no possibility that such
conditions could ever exist in the cities there.
He will forgive you your wrong actions and admit you into Gardens with
rivers flowing under them, and gine dwellings in the Garden of Eden.
That is the Great Victory. (Surat as-Saff: 12)
The Qur'an tells us that the climate of the Garden will be the most
pleasant and comfortable for the human spirit: "…they will experience
there neither burning sun nor bitter cold." (Surat al-Insan: 13)For
this reason, there will be no need for heating systems or air
conditioning. As we will see in the following chapters, communication
will be no problem in the Garden. Allah knows the truth.
When the buildings of the Garden are mentioned in the hadith,the
Prophet says that their mortar will be a sweet-smelling material
called musk. We can see that all the blessings thatAllah has created
in the Garden appeal to all our senses. A sweet aroma is a wonderful
blessing for human beings. The scentof roses, carnations, lilies,
hyacinths, lilacs, acacia and pine trees areall gifts of Allah to
human beings. In addition, these wonderful smells have a pleasing
effect on the human spirit. Nothing in this world will be able
tocompare with the aromas of the Garden and people will enjoy all
their unexpected subtleties. The fact that the mortar of the buildings
is composed ofmusk is one of the best examples of this. This is only
one of the wonderful things that Allah has created for believers in
the Garden.
... and make me one ofthe inheritors of the Garden of Delight; (Surat
Ash-Shu'ara': 85)