Written and collected by Zia H Shah MD

Abstract

In the sacred stillness of contemplation, the soul envisions a promised Paradise—an existence of unimaginable beauty veiled beyond human sight. The Quran declares that no soul truly knows the delights kept hidden for the righteous, for these joys reside in a realm no eye has seen and no mind can fathom. Our earthly life, for all its wonders, is but a cocoon or a womb: cozy and familiar yet tiny and dark compared to the vast life to come. Like a caterpillar unaware of the skies awaiting its wings, or an unborn child unable to imagine the world beyond, we too perceive only a fraction of reality. And yet, deep within, the soul yearns for that eternal homeland beyond the veil of perception—a homeland of lasting peace, beauty, and nearness to the Divine.

Paradise Beyond Imagination: Quranic Promise and Prophetic Vision

One of the Quran’s most evocative verses about the afterlife proclaims:

“فَلَا تَعْلَمُ نَفْسٌ مَّا أُخْفِيَ لَهُم مِّن قُرَّةِ أَعْيُنٍ…” – “No soul knows what delights of the eyes are kept hidden for them as a reward for what they used to do.” (Quran 32:17) surahquran.com.

This divine message from Surah As-Sajdah (The Prostration) asserts that the joys awaiting the righteous in Paradise are literally beyond our knowledge or imagination. Expounding on this verse, early scholars noted that “no one knows the vastness of what Allah has concealed for them of everlasting joy in Paradise – delights such as no eye has ever seen” quran.com. Because the faithful may have performed virtuous deeds in secrecy, Allah has prepared for them secret rewards, “a fitting reward” known only to Him quran.com. In other words, the hidden paradise is the glorious counterpoint to the hidden devotion of the believers.

The Prophet Muhammad ﷺ reinforced this truth with a famous divine narration. He said that Allah, glorified be He, has declared: “I have prepared for My righteous servants that which no eye has seen, no ear has heard, and has never crossed the mind of any human.” quran.com. After conveying this breathtaking Hadith Qudsi (sacred narration), the Prophet recited the same Quranic verse above quran.com, driving home the point that every description we hear of Paradise is only a hint, a distant metaphor, for a reality far greater than we can conceive. The combined testimony of Quran and Hadith paints Paradise as an unseen wonder—a reward so sublime that mortal senses and imagination fall short of grasping it.

In a hadith recorded in Sahih Muslim, the Prophet ﷺ further described the contrast between worldly life and the hereafter’s bliss. He said that on the Day of Resurrection, a person who suffered the most in life will be dipped just once into the Garden, and on emerging, he will be asked if he ever experienced any hardship. Enraptured by even that brief touch of Paradise, he will reply: “No, by Allah, I have never suffered any hardship or trouble.” sunnah.com. Such is the transformative joy of the hereafter: a single moment therein wipes out a lifetime of pain, as if all worldly struggles were no more than a forgotten dream. Clearly, the felicity of Paradise is not merely greater in degree than earthly pleasures, but different in kind – an utterly other reality that leaves no room for the sorrows of the past.

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