And He, the Almighty, says: Therein are rivers of sweet water [47:15].

And He, the Almighty, says: Therein are rivers of sweet water [47:15]. And He, the Exalted, says: Houris, cloistered in pavilions [55:72]. And He, the Sublime, says: And wide-eyed houris [56:22]. And He, the Exalted, says: And We shall espouse them to wide-eyed houris [44:54]. And He, the Almighty, says: And with the maidens of equal age restraining their glances [38:52].

And He, the Sublime, says: Verily, the inmates of Paradise shall on that day be busy rejoicing, they and their spouses [36:55-56]. And He, the Exalted says: . . . that they shall be given in perfect semblance; and there for them shall be spouses purified; therein they shall dwell forever [2:25].

How, then, do some hold it permissible to maintain that in Paradise there is a group of human beings who do not eat or drink, and that they take delight in what is an affliction to (the rest of) humanity, whereas the Book of Allah disclaims this; and the consensus of opinion is against it, whether it is in imitation of some whom it is relying on spurious traditions .not permissible to imitate, or As for Hell, it is the abode of those who have not known Allah, the Exalted.

Some of those who acknowledge Allah may enter Hell because of their disobedience; but they will not abide therein eternally; rather, they will come out and enter perpetual grace, since none but the polytheists will reside therein forever. Allah, the Sublime, says: Now I have warned you of a Fire that flames, to which none but the most wretched shall be exposed [92:14-15]. Here, 'shall be exposed to the Fire' means 'the eternal abiding therein'.

Allah, the Sublime says: Surely those who disbelieve Our signs, We shall certainly expose them to a Fire [4:56]. And He, the Almighty, says: Verily, those who disbelieve even if they had what is in the earth, all of it with it, that they might ransom themselves with it from the punishment of the Day of Resurrection, it shall not be accepted from them . . . [5:36].

Thus, every verse which implies the meaning of eternal abiding in the Fire, concerns only the polytheists rather than those who acknowledge the existence of Allah, the Almighty, according to the proofs of reason, and as supported (by the use) of the Book and the accepted traditions and the consensus of opinion, and the precedent current before the innovators amongst the followers of the doctrine of "threat"[^2]. [^1]: * * Not found in N.

[^2]: This is one of the five principal tenets of the Mu‘tazilah.