the sins committed between them, provided that major sins are avoided.”1 Thus, he made expiation conditional upon avoiding major sins, because no major sin is expiated except through repentance.

A report with a similar meaning was narrated by al-Tirmidhī and others from Anas ibn Mālik, may Allah be pleased with him: the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, passed by a tree whose leaves had withered. He struck it with his staff, causing its leaves to scatter. The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, then said: “Indeed, the words ‘All praise belongs to Allah,’ ‘Glory be to Allah,’ ‘There is no deity but Allah,’ and ‘Allah is the Greatest’ cause a servant’s sins to fall away just as the leaves of this tree have fallen.” Al-Albānī graded it good.2

5 — Another virtue of these words is that they are the plantings of Paradise. Al-Tirmidhī narrated from Abd Allāh ibn Masūd that the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said: “I met Abraham on the Night Journey, and he said, ‘O Muhammad, convey my greetings of peace to your nation and inform them that Paradise has wholesome soil and sweet water, and that it consists of broad, level plains. Its plantings are: “Glory be to Allah; all praise belongs to Allah; there is no deity but Allah; and Allah is the Greatest.”’”3 The chain of transmission of this hadith contains Abd al-Rahmān ibn Ishāq, but the hadith has two supporting reports by which it is strengthened: one from Abū Ayyūb al-Ansārī and the other from Abd Allāh ibn Umar.

The Arabic word qīʿān is the plural of qāʿ: a broad, level place in an even tract of land that is covered by rainwater, retains it, and produces vegetation of uniform growth. This is how Ibn al-Athīr defines it in al-Nihāya.4 What is meant is that the plantings of Paradise grow rapidly through these words, just as