Quran Universe
4:57

وَٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُواْ وَعَمِلُواْ ٱلصَّـٰلِحَٰتِ سَنُدۡخِلُهُمۡ جَنَّـٰتٖ تَجۡرِي مِن تَحۡتِهَا ٱلۡأَنۡهَٰرُ خَٰلِدِينَ فِيهَآ أَبَدٗاۖ لَّهُمۡ فِيهَآ أَزۡوَٰجٞ مُّطَهَّرَةٞۖ وَنُدۡخِلُهُمۡ ظِلّٗا ظَلِيلًا

Waallatheena amanoo waAAamiloo alssalihati sanudkhiluhum jannatin tajree min tahtiha alanharu khalideena feeha abadan lahum feeha azwajun mutahharatun wanudkhiluhum thillan thaleelan

But those who believe and do righteous deeds - We will admit them to gardens beneath which rivers flow, wherein they abide forever. For them therein are purified spouses, and We will admit them to deepening shade.

Word by word
  1. وَٱلَّذِينَAnd those who
  2. ءَامَنُواْbelieve [d]
  3. وَعَمِلُواْand did
  4. ٱلصَّـٰلِحَٰتِthe good deeds
  5. سَنُدۡخِلُهُمۡWe will admit them
  6. جَنَّـٰتٖ(in) Gardens
  7. تَجۡرِيflows
  8. مِنfrom
  9. تَحۡتِهَاunderneath it
  10. ٱلۡأَنۡهَٰرُthe rivers
  11. خَٰلِدِينَwill abide
  12. فِيهَآin it
  13. أَبَدٗاۖforever
  14. لَّهُمۡFor them
  15. فِيهَآin it
  16. أَزۡوَٰجٞ(are) spouses
  17. مُّطَهَّرَةٞۖpure
  18. وَنُدۡخِلُهُمۡand We will admit them
  19. ظِلّٗا(in the) shade
  20. ظَلِيلًاthick
An-Nisa · 4:57Madinah

A shade so wide a rider cannot cross it in a century.

The reward of faith and good deeds

What awaits
gardens with riversforever
purified spousesfree of every flaw
deep shadewide, never ending
The path there
believein the heart
and
do goodwith the hands

Right after the warning, the verse turns to those who believe and do good. Gardens with rivers, forever. Spouses purified of every flaw. And deep, spreading shade. The Prophet ﷺ said there is a tree in Paradise whose shade a rider could travel for a hundred years without crossing.

A summer afternoon in the city. The heat on the bus, the long walk from the station, no shade anywhere. You long for one tree. Allah promises shade that never ends, for faith joined with good deeds.

Paradise feels too far away to motivate me today.

Every good deed with faith is a step toward a shade that never ends.

Try this

On a hot or tiring moment today, remember that shade, and do one good deed for it.

Simplified reflection. Read the tafsir for scholarship.draft
Tafsir Ibn Kathir (shared passage from 4:56)

Surely, those who disbelieved in Our Ayat, We shall burn them in Fire. As often as their skins are roasted through, We shall change them for other skins that they may taste the punishment. Truly, Allah is Ever Most Powerful, All-Wise (56)But those who believe and do deeds of righteousness, We shall admit them to Gardens under which rivers flow (Paradise), abiding therein forever. Therein they shall have Azwajun Mutahharatun (purified mates), and We shall admit them to shades, wide and ever deepening (57)

The Punishment of Those Who Disbelieve in Allah's Books and Messengers

Allah describes the torment in the Fire of Jahannam for those who disbelieve in His Ayat and hinder from the path of His Messengers. Allah said,

إِنَّ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا بِآيَاتِنَا

(Surely, those who disbelieved in Our Ayat ,) meaning, We will place them in the Fire which will encompass every part of their bodies. Allah then states that their punishment and torment are everlasting,

كُلَّمَا نَضِجَتْ جُلُودُهُم بَدَّلْنَاهُمْ جُلُودًا غَيْرَهَا لِيَذُوقُوا الْعَذَابَ

(We shall burn them in Fire. As often as their skins are roasted through, We shall change them for other skins that they may taste the punishment).

Al-A'mash said that Ibn 'Umar said, "When their skin are burned, they will be given another skin in replacement, and this skin will be as white as paper." This was collected by Ibn Abi Hatim, who also recorded that Al-Hasan said,

كُلَّمَا نَضِجَتْ جُلُودُهُم

(As often as their skins are roasted through,) "Their skin will be roasted through, seventy thousand times every day." Husayn said; Fudayl added that Hisham said that Al-Hasan also said that,

كُلَّمَا نَضِجَتْ جُلُودُهُم

(As often as their skins are roasted through,) means, "Whenever the Fire has roasted them through and consumed their flesh, they will be told, 'Go back as you were before,' and they will."

The Wealth of the Righteous; Paradise and its Joy

Allah said,

وَالَّذِينَ آمَنُوا وَعَمِلُوا الصَّالِحَاتِ سَنُدْخِلُهُمْ جَنَّاتٍ تَجْرِي مِن تَحْتِهَا الْأَنْهَارُ خَالِدِينَ فِيهَا أَبَدًا

(But those who believe and do deeds of righteousness, We shall admit them to Gardens under which rivers flow (Paradise), abiding therein forever.) describing the destination of the happy ones in the gardens of Eden, beneath which rivers flow in all of its areas, spaces and corners, wherever they desire and wish. They will reside in it for eternity, and they will not be transferred or removed from it, nor would they want to move from it. Allah said,

لَّهُمْ فِيهَا أَزْوَاجٌ مُّطَهَّرَةٌ

(Therein they shall have Azwajun Mutahharatun (purified mates),) free of menstruation, postnatal bleeding, filth, bad manners and shortcomings. Ibn 'Abbas said that the Ayah means, "They are purified of filth and foul things." Similar was said by 'Ata', Al-Hasan, Ad-Dahhak, An-Nakha'i, Abu Salih, 'Atiyah, and As-Suddi. Mujahid said that they are, free of urine, menstruation, spit, mucous and pregnancies." Allah's statement,

وَنُدْخِلُهُمْ ظِلًّا ظَلِيلًا

(And We shall admit them to shades, wide and ever deepening (Paradise).) means, wide, extensive, pure and elegant shade. Ibn Jarir recorded that Abu Hurayrah said that the Prophet ﷺ said,

إِنَّ فِي الْجَنَّةِ لَشَجَرَةً يَسِيرُ الرَّاكِبُ فِي ظِلِّهَا مِائَةَ عَامٍ لَا يَقْطَعُهَا: شَجَرَةَ الْخُلْدِ

(There is a tree in Paradise, that if a rider travels under its shade for a hundred years, he will not cross it. It is the Tree of Everlasting Life.)