At-Tawba (The Repentance)

72. “Allah has promised the believing men and the believing women gardens beneath which rivers flow wherein shall they abide forever, and goodly dwellings in garden of perpetual abode, yet Allah’s good pleasure is greater (than all these); that is the great success.”

In this holy verse, the very believers whose epithets were pointed out before, are promised some excellent things, the most important of which is the bounty of His good pleasure. What state can be greater than the good pleasure of Allah for a believer? The verse says:

“Allah has promised the believing men and the believing women gardens beneath which rivers flow wherein shall they abide forever, and goodly dwellings in garden of perpetual abode, yet Allah’s good pleasure is greater (than all these); that is the great success.”

The garden which Allah will bestow on the believers has been qualified differently in the Qur’ān. They are such as: /jannāt-i-‘adnin/ (gardens of perpetual abode), /jannat-ul-ma’wā/ (the garden, the abode), and /jannat-ul-xuld/ (garden of eternity).

The purpose of the first qualification, mentioned here, is the statement of eternity of Paradise. It has been said that this garden is located in the middle of Paradise, or it is the best place of Paradise. A tradition narrated from the Prophet (S) denotes that, it is the situation of the place of prophets, veracious believers, and martyrs.

Of course, entering into Paradise and enjoying its bounties can be a good goal for the believers, but greater than that is gaining the good pleasure of Allah. This is the main goal of any believer who has settled the love of Allah in his heart, and has considerably climbed towards the climax of the cognition of Allah (s.w.t.).