Verse 64 of Surat al-Rahman (Chapter 55) is comprised of one single word...

Verse 64 of Surat al-Rahman (Chapter 55) is comprised of one single word: Mudhamunatan, which describes two dark-green gardens, while verse 62 of the same sura tells us that there are "Besides these two gardens there are two other ones," bringing the total number of gardens comprising the eternal abode of bliss to four. The highest pinnacle of Paradise is the Garden of Eden, orjannat ‘adan. On p. 99, Vol.

13, of Lisan al-Arab, we are told that jannat means: orchard, a garden with many fruit trees. Jannat ‘adan is described in: verse 72 of Surat al-Tawbah (Ch. 9), verse 23 of Surat al-Ra’d (Ch. 13), verse 31 of Surat al-NahI (Ch. 16), verse 31 of Surat al-Kahaf (Ch. 18), verse 61 of Surat Maryam (Ch. 19), verse 76 of Surat Ta-Ha (Ch. 20), verse 33 of Surat Fatir (Ch. 35), verse 50 of Surat Sad (Ch. 38), verse 8 of Surat Ghafir (Ch. 40), verse 12 of Surat al-Saff (Ch.

61), and verse 8 of Surat al-Bayyinah (Ch. 98). On p. 279, Vol. 13, of Lisan alArab, we are told that jannat ‘adan means "the place of eternity", the very central (al-awsat) garden." Page 427, Vol. 7, of Lisan al-Arabs suggests that one of the meanings of al-awsat is: the best. No wonder, then, to see more reference to jannat ‘adan than to, say, al-fl rdaws, Paradise, in the Holy Qur’an.

This leaves us with the conclusion that the very best, the central, the focal, the highest pinnacle of al-jannat, the heavenly Garden, is jannat ‘adan. Paradise, or al-firdaws, as it is called in Arabic, is a loan word. The Arabs to whom (pbuh) was sent had no concept whatsoever of life after death, of heaven and hell. This is one of the main challenges faced by the Prophet (pbuh) when he started preaching Islam to them.

The Holy Qur’an refers to this challenge in Surat Ya-Sin: "And he strikes out a likeness for Us and forgets his own creation. Says he: Who will give life to the bones when they are rotten? Say: The One Who brought them into existence the first time Alll give life (back) to them, and He is Cognizant of all creation" 36:79). Even the author of the best Arabic lexicon, Lisan al-Arab, is ~ot sure whether firdaws is a word borrowed from Latin or Persian, ~or is al-Majlisi, as the latter admits on p.

91, Vol. 8, of his one iundred and ten volume encylopedia—not counting Vol. Zero—known is Bihar al-Anwar . A third view, which may be more accurate, is that is neither; its origin maybe Babylonian. The other word used in the Holy Qur’an for it is Jannat, garden.