But Paradise is a lot more than just a garden or an orchard.

But Paradise is a lot more than just a garden or an orchard. The Arabs never had the habit of living inside their orchards. Their homes, built of sun dried or fire baked clay, were grouped together rather than scattered inside orchards as is the case with Paradise. The presence of a good number of Jews in both Medina (where they were more nUmarous due to the city's tolerable climate) and Mecca permitted the Jews' contribution to such loan words.

Jahannam , a derivation from Hebrew Gehinnom [^1] (Latin Gehenna ), hell, is another. An overall "view" of this heavenly place can fill a book and may be out of the scope of this book; therefore, let us take a look at its gates as seen by an eye-witness: (S) who is quoted on p. 144, Vol.

8, of Bihar al-Anwar , describing it as transmitted by Abdullah ibn Mas’ud thus: When my Lord permitted me to ascend to heaven, Gabriel (as) said to me, "I have been ordered to show you both Paradise and hell." So I saw Paradise and the blessings it contains, and I saw hell and the types of torment it has. Paradise has eight gates, on each one of which are four statements, each one of which is better than the world and what is in it for those who comprehend and act upon them.

And hell has seven gates, on each one of which are three statements, each one of which is better than this world and what is therein for those who comprehend and act upon them. Gabriel (as) said to me, "O Muhammad! Read what is written on these gates!" So I read them.

On the first gate of Paradise it is written: There is no god except Allah; Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah; Ali is a true servant ( wali ) of Allah; there are means to attain everything, and the means of livelihood are four: contentment, spending on the right cause, renunciation of grudge, and keeping company with the people of righteousness.

On the second gate it is written: There is no god except Allah; Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah; Ali is a true servant ( wali ) of Allah; there are means to attain everything, and the means to attain happiness in the life hereafter are four: rubbing the heads of (I.e., showing kindness to) the orphans, kindness to the widows, the effort to assist the faithful in attaining their objectives, and looking after the poor and the indigent.