Commentary
The pronoun in 'they will be separated' refers to the Muslims and the disbelievers, as indicated by what follows. Al-Hasan, may Allah be pleased with him, said: It is the separation of the Muslims and the disbelievers; these are in 'Illiyyin, and those are in the lowest of the low. And Qatadah, may Allah be pleased with him, said: A separation with no reunion after it, in a garden in a paradise, which is the garden. The indefinite article indicates the ambiguity of the matter and its grandeur. A garden, according to the Arabs, is any land with vegetation and water. In their proverbs: 'Better than an egg in a garden,' they mean: the egg of an ostrich, which they are pleased with and enjoy. It is said: He pleased him if he made him happy, and his face shone with joy and showed its effect. Then differing opinions arose regarding it due to its potential meanings of all pleasures. Mujahid, may Allah be pleased with him, said: They are honored. Qatadah said: They are in bliss. Ibn Kaysan said: They are adorned. Abu Bakr ibn Ayash said: Crowns on their heads. Waki' said: Listening in paradise. And the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, mentioned paradise and what is in it of bliss. In the narration of Sulayman ibn 'Ataa from Muslima ibn Abdullah al-Jinabi from his uncle Abu Mushajjia from Abu al-Darda, he said: 'The Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, used to remind the people and mentioned paradise and what is in it... the hadith.' And Sulayman is considered weak in narration. In the end, a Bedouin said: O Messenger of Allah, is there any listening in paradise? He said: 'Yes, O Bedouin, indeed in paradise there is a river whose banks are lined with maidens of every white, beautiful kind, singing with voices that no creature has ever heard the like of; that is the greatest bliss of paradise.' The narrator said: I asked Abu al-Darda, with what do they sing? He said: With glorification. It was narrated: 'Indeed in paradise there are trees with silver bells.' When the people of paradise wish to listen, Allah sends a wind from beneath the Throne, which strikes those trees, causing those bells to ring with sounds that if the people of this world heard them, they would die from joy. This was narrated by al-Thalabi from Abdullah ibn 'Aradah al-Shaybani, one of the weak narrators, from al-Qasim ibn Mutayyib from Mughirah from Ibrahim in this manner. It was narrated by Ishaq in his Musnad from the narration of Mujahid, it was said to Abu Huraira: 'Is there any listening in paradise?' He said: 'Yes, a tree whose roots are of gold and its branches are of silver, and its fruits are of ruby and emerald; a wind is sent to it that moves some of its parts. Nothing has ever been heard that is more beautiful than it.' They are present and do not miss it, nor is it lightened for them, as His saying: 'And they will not be outside of it, nor will it be lightened for them.'
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