Furthermore...

Furthermore, there is no limitation, with respect to type and category, that will be placed on the blessings of paradise: “Whatever the heart desires and delights the eye will be brought into being” (43:71) . We know that God's acts are implemented by means of His all-powerful will; as soon as He wills a certain thing, its existence on the plain of being follows automatically.

Thus the Qur'an says: “Whatsoever We will to exist and command to come into being, that very instant it comes into being without any delay” (16:40) . One of the distinguishing features of the hereafter is that the dwellers in paradise will reach a point at which their deeds come to resemble the acts of God; they rely on their wills for the accomplishment of their deeds, without the need for physical strength or means and instruments.

The Qur'an says concerning the life of the blessed in the hereafter: “They have whatever they wish and desire” (39: 34). The Commander of the Faithful, upon whom be peace, said: “The fruits of the hereafter are plucked without any effort; desire and inclination suffice to obtain them.” ( Nahj al-Balagha, ed.

Fayd, sermon 164) Security and Peace One of the fundamental differences between life in this world and life in the hereafter is that the relationships prevailing in the latter are utterly different from those found in the material world, because of the sublime and perfect nature of the hereafter. In this world, beings infringe on each other, because of the particular type of relationships that exist here and the conditions created by time and space.

By contrast, in the hereafter none will find his own existence threatened by that of another and none of the relations prevailing there will be based on negation or repulsion; all relationships will revolve around an axis of security and peace. The closer in the hierarchy of existence a sphere of being is situated to the Exalted Origin of all being, the greater will be the degree of Unity and harmony it possesses, and the farther removed it will be from separation, contradiction, and opposition.

Once man reaches the sublime realm of the hereafter and enters the proximity of God's mercy, he will be beyond the reach of the unpleasant contingencies of the material world.