Surah 2, al-Baqara, Medina 87

The Quranic Text & Ali’s translation:

وَبَشِّرِ الَّذِين آمَنُواْ وَعَمِلُواْ الصَّالِحَاتِ ...

25. But give glad tidings to those who believe and work righteousness,

... أَنَّ لَهُمْ جَنَّاتٍ تَجْرِي مِن تَحْتِهَا الأَنْهَارُ...

that their portion is Gardens, beneath which rivers flow.

... كُلَّمَا رُزِقُواْ مِنْهَا مِن ثَمَرَةٍ رِّزْقاً قَالُواْ ...

Every time they are fed with fruits therefrom, they say:

... هَـذَا الَّذِي رُزِقْنَا مِن قَبْلُ ...

"Why, this is what we were fed with before,"

... وَأُتُواْ بِهِ مُتَشَابِهاً...

for they are given things in similitude;

... وَلَهُمْ فِيهَا أَزْوَاجٌ مُّطَهَّرَةٌ ...

and they have therein companions (pure and holy);

... وَهُمْ فِيهَا خَالِدُون ﴿٢٥﴾

and they abide therein (for ever).

Asad’s Translation:

2:25

But unto those who have attained to faith and do good works give the glad tiding that theirs shall be gardens through which running waters flow. Whenever they are granted fruits there from as their appointed sustenance, they will say, "It is this that in days of yore was granted to us as our sustenance!" - for they shall be given something that will recall that [past]. 17 And there shall they have spouses pure, and there shall they abide.

*************************************

Ali’s comments:

44. What can be more delightful than a Garden where you observe from a picturesque height a beautiful landscape round you, - rivers flowing with crystal water, and fruit tree of which the choicest fruit is before you.

The fruit of goodness is goodness, similar, but choicer in every degree of ascent. You think it is the same, but it is because of your past experiences and associations of memory. (R).

Asad’s comments:

17 Lit., "something resembling it". Various interpretations, some of them of an esoteric and highly speculative nature, have been given to this passage. For the manner in which I have translated it, I am indebted to Muhammad 'Abduh (in Manar 1,232 f), who interprets the phrase, "It is this that in days of yore was granted to us as our sustenance" as meaning: "It is this that we have been promised during our life on earth as a requital for faith and righteous deeds." In other words, man's actions and attitudes in this world will be mirrored in their "fruits", or consequences, in the life to come - as has been expressed elsewhere in the Qur'an in the verses, "And he who shall have done an atom's weight of good, shall behold it; and he who shall have done an atom's weight of evil, shall behold it" (99:7-8). As regards the reference to "spouses" in the next sentence, it is to be noted that the term zawj (of which azwaj is

the plural) signifies either of the two components of a couple - that is, the male as well as the female.