Al-Qur'an Surah Al-Baqarah Verse 25

Mufti Taqi Usmani

And give good news to those who believe and do righteous deeds that for them there are gardens beneath which rivers flow. Every time they are given a fruit from there to eat, they will say, “This is what we have been given before”; and they will be given (fruits) resembling one another. And for them there shall be wives purified; and there they will live forever.

Dr. Mustafa Khattab, the Clear Quran

Give good news ˹O Prophet˺ to those who believe and do good that they will have Gardens under which rivers flow. Whenever provided with fruit, they will say, “This is what we were given before,” for they will be served fruit that looks similar ˹but tastes different˺. They will have pure spouses,[[ Residents of Paradise will be in a perfect condition. There will be neither physical impurities such as illness, urination, defecation, or menstruation; nor spiritual blemishes such as jealousy, envy, or hatred. ]] and they will be there forever.

Ruwwad Translation Center

And give glad tidings to those who believe and do righteous deeds that they will have gardens under which rivers flow. Every time they are provided with a provision of fruit therefrom, they will say, “This is what we were provided with before,” for they will be given fruit that resemble one another. They will have purified spouses, and they will abide therein forever.

A. J. Arberry

Give thou good tidings to those who believe and do deeds of righteousness, that for them await gardens underneath which rivers flow; whensoever they are provided with fruits therefrom they shall say, 'This is that wherewithal we were provided before'; that they shall be given in perfect semblance; and there for them shall be spouses purified; therein they shall dwell forever.

Abdul Haleem

[Prophet], give those who believe and do good the news that they will have Gardens graced with flowing streams. Whenever they are given sustenance from the fruits of these Gardens, they will say, ‘We have been given this before,’ because they were provided with something like it. They will have pure spouses and there they will stay.

Abdul Majid Daryabadi

And bear thou the glad tidings unto those who believe and do righteous works that verily for them shall be Gardens whereunder rivers flow. So oft as they shall be provided with a fruit therefrom they will say: this is that wherewith we were provided afore; and they shall be vouchsafed that which is consimilar; and for them shall be therein spouses purified, and therein they shall be abiders.

Abdullah Yusuf Ali

But give glad tidings to those who believe and work righteousness, that their portion is Gardens, beneath which rivers flow. Every time they are fed with fruits therefrom, they say; "Why, this is what we were fed with before," for they are given things in similitude; and they have therein companions pure (and holy); and they abide therein (for ever).

Abul Ala Maududi

And give good news (O Muhammad), to those who believe in this Book and do good deeds (in accordance with its teachings). For them there will be gardens underneath which canals flow. Their fruits will so resemble the fruits on the Earth that every time they will be provided with fruits, they will say, "Such fruits were provided to us before on the Earth. " And there will be pure spouses for them and therein they will live for ever.

Ahmed Ali

Announce to those who believe and have done good deeds, glad tidings of gardens under which rivers flow, and where, when they eat the fruits that grow, they will say: "Indeed they are the same as we were given before," so like in semblance the food would be. And they shall have fair spouses there, and live there abidingly.

Ahmed Raza Khan

And give glad tidings to those who believe and do good deeds; that for them are Gardens beneath which rivers flow; when they are provided with a fruit of the Gardens, they will say, “This is the same food as what was given to us before” whereas it is in resemblance; and in the Gardens are pure spouses for them; and they shall abide in it forever.

Ali Quli Qarai

And give good news to those who have faith and do righteous deeds, that for them shall be gardens with streams running in them: whenever they are provided with their fruit for nourishment, they will say, ‘This is what we were provided before,’ and they were given something resembling it. There will be chaste mates for them, and they will remain therein [forever].

Ali Ünal

Give glad tidings to those who believe and do good, righteous deeds: for them are Gardens through which rivers flow. Every time they are provided with fruits (of different color, shape, taste, and fragrance and that are constantly renewed) therefrom, they say, "This is what we were provided with before." For they are given to them in resemblance (to what was given to them both in the world, and just before in the Gardens, familiar in shape and color so that they may not be unattractive because unknown). Furthermore, for them are spouses eternally purified (of all kinds of worldly uncleanliness). They will abide there (forever).

Amatul Rahman Omar

And give good tidings to those who believe and do deeds of righteousness, that there await them gardens from beneath which the streams flow. Every time they are given any kind of fruit from them (- the gardens) to eat, they will say, `This is the same we were given before.´ They will be given it (- the fruit) in perfect semblance (to their deeds). They shall have therein companions purified (spiritually and physically), and will abide therein for ever.

English Literal

And announce good news (to) those who believe and did/made the correct/righteous deeds, that to them (are) treed gardens the rivers flow from beneath it. Whenever they (were) provided for from it from a fruit a provision ,they said: "This (is) what we were provided for from before." And they were given with it similar , and for them in it (are) purified spouses and they are in it immortally/eternally .

Faridul Haque

And give glad tidings to those who believe and do good deeds; that for them are Gardens beneath which rivers flow; when they are provided with a fruit of the Gardens, they will say, "This is the same food as what was given to us before" whereas it is in resemblance; and in the Gardens are pure spouses for them; and they shall abide in it forever.

Hamid S. Aziz

But bear the glad tidings to those who believe and work righteousness, that for them are Gardens beneath which rivers flow; whenever they are provided with fruit there from they say, "This is what we were provided with before," and they shall be provided with their similitude; and there are pure companions for them therein, and they shall dwell therein for ever.

Hilali & Khan

And give glad tidings to those who believe and do righteous good deeds, that for them will be Gardens under which rivers flow (Paradise). Every time they will be provided with a fruit therefrom, they will say: "This is what we were provided with before," and they will be given things in resemblance (i.e. in the same form but different in taste) and they shall have therein Azwajun Mutahharatun (purified mates or wives), (having no menses, stools, urine, etc.) and they will abide therein forever.

Maulana Mohammad Ali

And give good news to those who believe and do good deeds, that for them are Gardens in which rivers flow. Whenever they are given a portion of the fruit thereof, they will say: This is what was given to us before; and they are given the like of it. And for them therein are pure companions and therein they will abide.

Mohammad Habib Shakir

And convey good news to those who believe and do good deeds, that they shall have gardens in which rivers flow; whenever they shall be given a portion of the fruit thereof, they shall say: This is what was given to us before; and they shall be given the like of it, and they shall have pure mates in them, and in them, they shall abide.

Mohammed Marmaduke William Pickthall

And give glad tidings (O Muhammad) unto those who believe and do good works; that theirs are Gardens underneath which rivers flow; as often as they are regaled with food of the fruit thereof, they say: this is what was given us aforetime; and it is given to them in resemblance. There for them are pure companions; there for ever they abide.

Muhammad Sarwar

(Muhammad), tell the righteously striving believers of the happy news, that for them there are gardens wherein streams flow. Whenever they get any fruit from the gardens as food, they will say, "This is just what we had before (we came here). These fruits are produced very much like them (those we had before)." They will have purified spouses and it is they who will live forever.

Qaribullah & Darwish

Bear glad tidings to those who believe and do good works. They shall live in Gardens underneath which rivers flow. Whenever they are given fruit as provision they will say: 'This is what we were given before,' for they shall be given in resemblance. Therein they shall have pure spouses, and shall live there for ever.

Safi-ur-Rahman al-Mubarakpuri

And give glad tidings to those who believe and do righteous good deeds, that for them will be Gardens under which rivers flow (Paradise). Every time they will be provided with a fruit therefrom, they will say: "This is what we were provided with before," and they will be given things in resemblance (i.e. in the same form but different in taste) and they shall have therein Azwajun Mutahharatun (purified mates or wives), and they will abide therein forever.

Wahiduddin Khan

Give the good news to those who believe and do good works, that they will have Gardens through which rivers flow: whenever they are given fruit to eat they will say, "This is what we were provided with before," because they were given similar things. And there will be pure spouses for them, and they will abide there forever.

Talal Itani

And give good news to those who believe and do righteous deeds; that they will have gardens beneath which rivers flow. Whenever they are provided with fruit therefrom as sustenance, they will say, “This is what we were provided with before,” and they will be given the like of it. And they will have pure spouses therein, and they will abide therein forever.

Tafsir jalalayn

And give good tidings to, inform, those who believe, who have faith in God, and perform righteous deeds, such as the obligatory and supererogatory [rituals], that theirs shall be Gardens, of trees, and habitations, underneath which, that is, underneath these trees and palaces, rivers run (tajr min tahtih'l-anhru), that is, there are waters in it (al-nahr is the place in which water flows [and is so called] because the water carves [yanhar] its way through it; the reference to it as `running' is figurative); whensoever they are provided with fruits therefrom, that is, whenever they are given to eat from these gardens, they shall say, `This is what, that is, the like of what we were provided with before', that is, before this, in Paradise, since its fruits are similar (and this is evidenced by [the following statement]); they shall be given it, the provision, in perfect semblance, that is, resembling one another in colour, but different in taste; and there for them shall be spouses, of houris and others, purified, from menstruation and impurities; therein they shall abide; dwelling therein forever, neither perishing nor departing therefrom. And when the Jews said, `Why does God strike a similitude about flies, where He says, And if a fly should rob them of anything [Q. 22;73] and about a spider, where He says, As the likeness of the spider [Q. 29;41]; what does God want with these vile creatures? God then revealed the following;

Tafseer Ibn Kathir

Rewards of Righteous Believers

After mentioning the torment that Allah has prepared for His miserable enemies who disbelieve in Him and in His Messengers, He mentions the condition of His happy, loyal friends who believe in Him and in His Messengers, adhere to the faith and perform the good deeds. This is the reason why the Qur'an was called Mathani, based on the correct opinion of the scholars. We will elaborate upon this subject later.
Mathani means to mention faith and then disbelief, or vice versa. Or, Allah mentions the miserable and then the happy, or vice versa.

As for mentioning similar things, it is called Tashabbuh, as we will come to know, Allah willing.

Allah said,

وَبَشِّرِ الَّذِين امَنُواْ وَعَمِلُواْ الصَّالِحَاتِ أَنَّ لَهُمْ جَنَّاتٍ تَجْرِي مِن تَحْتِهَا الَانْهَارُ

And give glad tidings to those who believe and do righteous good deeds, that for them will be Gardens under which rivers flow (Paradise),

Consequently, Allah stated that Paradise has rivers that run beneath it, meaning, underneath its trees and rooms.

From Hadiths it is learned that the rivers of Paradise do not run in valleys, and that the banks of Al-Kawthar (the Prophet's lake in Paradise) are made of domes of hollow pearls, the sand of Paradise is made of scented musk while its stones are made from pearls and jewels. We ask Allah to grant Paradise to us, for verily, He is the Most Beneficent, Most Gracious.

Ibn Abi Hatim reported that Abu Hurayrah said that the Messenger of Allah said,

أَنْهَارُ الْجَنَّةِ تَفَجَّرُ تَحْتَ تِلَلٍ أَوْ مِنْ تَحْتِ جِبَالِ الْمِسْ

The rivers of Paradise spring from beneath hills, or mountains of musk.

He also reported from Masruq that Abdullah said,

"The rivers of Paradise spring from beneath mountains of musk."
The similarity between the Fruits of Paradise

Allah said next,

كُلَّمَا رُزِقُواْ مِنْهَا مِن ثَمَرَةٍ رِّزْقاً قَالُواْ هَـذَا الَّذِي رُزِقْنَا مِن قَبْلُ

Every time they will be provided with a fruit therefrom, they will say;"This is what we were provided with before".

Ibn Abi Hatim reported that Yahya bin Abi Kathir said,

"The grass of Paradise is made of saffron, its hills from musk and the boys of everlasting youth will serve the believers with fruits which they will eat. They will then be brought similar fruits, and the people of Paradise will comment, `This is the same as what you have just brought us.' The boys will say to them, `Eat, for the color is the same, but the taste is different.

Hence Allah's statement,

وَأُتُواْ بِهِ مُتَشَابِهاً

and they will be given things in resemblance."

Abu Jafar Ar-Razi narrated that Ar-Rabi bin Anas said that Abu Al-Aliyah said that,
وَأُتُواْ بِهِ مُتَشَابِهاً
(and they will be given things in resemblance) means,

"They look like each other, but the taste is different."

Also, Ikrimah said,
وَأُتُواْ بِهِ مُتَشَابِهاً
(and they will be given things in resemblance),

"They are similar to the fruits of this life, but the fruits of Paradise taste better."

Sufyan Ath-Thawri reported from Al-Amash, from Abu Thubyan, that Ibn Abbas said,

"Nothing in Paradise resembles anything in the life of this world, except in name."

In another narration, Ibn Abbas said,

"Only the names are similar between what is in this life and what is in Paradise."
The Wives of the People of Paradise are Pure

Allah said,

وَلَهُمْ فِيهَا أَزْوَاجٌ مُّطَهَّرَةٌ

and they shall have therein Azwajun Mutahharatun,

Ibn Abi Talhah reported that Ibn Abbas said,

"Purified from filth and impurity."

Also, Mujahid said,

"From menstruation, relieving the call of nature, urine, spit, semen and pregnancies."

Also, Qatadah said,

"Purified from impurity and sin."

In another narration, he said,

"From menstruation and pregnancies."

Further, Ata, Al-Hasan, Ad-Dahhak, Abu Salih, Atiyah and As-Suddi were reported to have said similarly.

Allah's statement,

وَهُمْ فِيهَا خَالِدُون



and they will abide therein forever.

meaning ultimate happiness, for the believers will enjoy everlasting delight, safe from death and disruption of their bliss, for it never ends or ceases.

We ask Allah to make us among these believers, for He is the Most Generous, Most Kind and Most merciful