Abu Jafar Muhammad ibn Hārūn ibn Badīnā al-Daqqāq narrated to us by dictation, saying: Muhammad ibn Abd Allah ibn Ammār al-Mawsilī narrated to us, saying: He said: Al-Muāfā ibn Imrān narrated to us, from Abu Iyās Idrīs ibn Sinān, from Wahb ibn Munabbih, from Muhammad ibn Ali. Idrīs said: I later met Muhammad ibn Ali ibn al-Husayn ibn Fātimah—may Allah be pleased with them all—and he narrated to me, saying: The Messenger of Allah—peace and blessings be upon him—said:
⦗1040⦘ Abu Abd Allah al-Husayn ibn Muhammad ibn Ufayr al-Ansārī also narrated to us by dictation, saying: Ishāq ibn Dāwūd al-Qantarī narrated to us, from Ahmad ibn Abd Allah ibn Yūnus, who said: Al-Muāfā ibn Imrān narrated to us, saying: Idrīs ibn Sinān narrated to us, from Wahb ibn Munabbih, from Muhammad ibn Ali ibn al-Husayn ibn Fātimah—may Allah be pleased with them. Idrīs said: I later met Muhammad ibn al-Husayn, and he narrated to me, saying: The Messenger of Allah—peace and blessings be upon him—said:
“There is a tree in Paradise called Tūbā. If a swift steed were made available to a rider to travel beneath its shade, it would travel for one hundred years before passing beyond it. ⦗1041⦘ Its leaves and trunk are green mantles; its blossoms and meadows are yellow; its branches are fine silk and brocade; its fruit consists of green robes; its water is ginger and honey; its pebbles are red ruby and green emerald; its soil is musk, ambergris, and white camphor; and its herbage is radiant saffron. A luminous flame blazes without fuel, and from its base burst forth rivers of Salsabīl, flowing water, and pure nectar. Its shade is one of the gathering places of the people of Paradise, where they assemble to converse.
“While they are conversing beneath its shade, the angels come to them leading noble she-camels created from ruby and then given life. They are bridled with chains of gold; their faces resemble lamps in radiance and beauty; and their coats are of red silk and white goat down. No beholder has ever seen their like in beauty, splendor, and loveliness. They are docile without having been subdued by fear, and noble mounts requiring no training. Upon them are saddles whose frames are made of pearls and rubies, adorned with pearls and coral. Their plates are of red gold, upholstered with rich tapestries and purple cloth.
“The angels make those noble mounts kneel before them and say, ‘Your Lord—Glorified and Exalted—sends you greetings of peace and desires to grant you yet more, so that you may look upon Him, ⦗1042⦘ He may look upon you, He may greet you and you may greet Him, He may speak to you and you may speak to Him, and He may increase you from His bounty and abundance. Truly, He possesses boundless mercy and immense grace.’
“Each man then mounts his riding beast, and they set out in a single, perfectly even rank. Nothing in the formation outstrips anything else, nor does one she-camel’s ear advance beyond another’s. They pass no tree of Paradise but that it brings its fruit close around them and is moved aside from their path, lest it break their rank or separate a man from his companion.
“When they are raised before the Almighty—Blessed and Exalted—He unveils His noble Face to them and manifests Himself to them in His majesty. He greets them with peace, and they say, ‘Our Lord, You are Peace, and from You comes peace; majesty and honor are rightfully Yours.’ He—Blessed and Exalted—says to them, ‘Indeed, I am Peace, from Me comes peace, and majesty and honor are rightfully Mine. Welcome, My servants who kept My command, honored My covenant, feared Me though unseen, and remained apprehensively in awe of Me.’
⦗1043⦘ “They say, ‘By Your might, greatness, majesty, and exalted station, we did not esteem You as You deserve, nor did we fully render You Your due. Permit us, therefore, to prostrate ourselves before You.’
“Their Lord—Glorified and Exalted—says to them, ‘I have relieved you of the burden of worship and given rest to your bodies. How long you wearied your bodies and subjected your faces to hardship for My sake! Now come into My repose, mercy, and honor. Ask Me for whatever you wish and express your desires to Me, and I shall grant you your wishes. Today I shall not reward you in proportion to your deeds, but in proportion to My mercy, honor, bounty, majesty, exalted station, and mighty dominion.’
“They continue receiving wishes, gifts, and bestowals until even the least ambitious among them wishes for the equivalent of the entire world, from the day Allah—Glorified and Exalted—created it until the day He brought it to an end. Their Lord—Glorified and Exalted—then says to them, ‘You have fallen short in your wishes and have settled for less than what is rightly yours. I have assured you of all that you asked and wished for, and I have added and increased for you whatever your wishes failed to encompass. Look, then, at the gifts your Lord has bestowed upon you.’
“Suddenly there are domes in the Highest Realm and chambers built of pearls and coral. Their doors are of gold, their couches of ruby, their furnishings of fine silk and brocade, and their pulpits of ⦗1044⦘ light. Light pours forth from their doors and courtyards, beside which the sun’s rays resemble a radiant star. There are towering palaces in the highest reaches of Illiyyīn, fashioned from ruby and shining with light. Had He not subdued their radiance, they would have dazzled the eyes. Those palaces fashioned from white ruby are furnished with white silk; those of red ruby with rich red carpets; those of green ruby with green fine silk; and those of yellow ruby with yellow-dyed cloth. They are strewn with green emeralds, red gold, and white silver. Their towers and cornerstones are of jewels, and their battlements are domes of pearl.
“When they turn toward what their Lord—Glorified and Exalted—has given them, palfreys of white ruby, into which life has been breathed, are brought near. Immortal youths lead them, each holding the bridle of one of those palfreys. Their bits and reins are of white silver, strung with pearls and rubies, and their saddles are spread with fine silk and brocade. The palfreys bear them away in stately procession and carry them through the gardens of Paradise. When they reach their dwellings, they find the angels seated upon pulpits of light, awaiting them so that they may visit them, shake hands with them, and congratulate them upon the honor bestowed by their Lord—Glorified and Exalted. ⦗1045⦘
“When they enter their palaces, they find within them everything their Lord—Glorified and Exalted—has graciously bestowed upon them from all that they asked and wished for. At the gate of each palace are four gardens: two with spreading branches and two of deepest green. In them are two gushing springs, and in both are two kinds of every fruit, as well as maidens of Paradise secluded in pavilions.
“When they have taken up residence in their dwellings and are firmly settled there, their Lord—Glorified and Exalted—says to them, ‘Have you found what your Lord promised to be true?’ They reply, ‘Yes.’ He asks, ‘Are you content with your Lord’s gifts?’ They reply, ‘Yes, our Lord, we are content, so be pleased with us.’ He says, ‘Because I am pleased with you, you have taken up residence in My abode, beheld My noble Face, and shaken hands with My angels. Bliss upon bliss be yours—“an unending gift” [Hūd: 108], subject to neither diminution nor cessation.’
“At that, they say, ‘Praise be to Allah, who has removed all sorrow from us. Surely our Lord is All-Forgiving, Most Appreciative; He who, out of His grace, has settled us in the Home of Everlasting Residence, where neither toil nor weariness touches us.’ [Fātir: 35]”
Muhammad ibn al-Husayn ⦗1046⦘ said: All these reports corroborate one another and, together with the plain import of the Quran, demonstrate that the believers will see Allah—Glorified and Exalted. Belief in this is therefore obligatory. Whoever believes in what we have mentioned has attained his share of good, if Allah wills, in this world and the Hereafter. Whoever rejects everything we have mentioned and claims that Allah—Glorified and Exalted—will not be seen in the Hereafter has disbelieved. Whoever disbelieves in this has disbelieved in many matters in which he is obligated to believe.
In another book, if Allah wills, we shall explain everything that the Jahmī denies. If one of those whom Satan has mastered—leaving them to wander blindly in their error—objects, being among those who claim that Allah—Glorified and Exalted—will not be seen on the Day of Resurrection, and adduces the words of Allah—Mighty ⦗1047⦘ and Majestic—“No vision can encompass Him, but He encompasses all vision, and He is the Most Subtle, the All-Aware” [al-Anām: 103], thereby denying the vision of Allah—Glorified and Exalted—through his erroneous interpretation of this verse, he is told:
O ignorant man! The one to whom Allah—Glorified and Exalted—revealed the Quran, whom He made His proof against His creation, and whom He commanded to clarify the revelation sent down to him knows its interpretation better than you do, O Jahmī. He is the one who told us, “You will surely see your Lord—Glorified and Exalted—as you see this moon.” We accepted from him the glad tidings he gave us of this honor from our Lord—Glorified and Exalted—in accordance with the foregoing sound reports recognized by the scholars who uphold the truth.
After him, the Companions—may Allah be pleased with them—and the Successors who followed them explained the verse, “Faces on that Day will be radiant, looking at their Lord” [al-Qiyāmah: 22], as meaning that they will look upon the Face of Allah—Glorified and Exalted. They knew the interpretation of the Quran—and of the verse you cited, “No vision can encompass Him, but He encompasses all vision” [al-Anām: 103]—better than you and followed a sounder path than you.
The Prophet—peace and blessings be upon him—also explained to us the words of Allah—Glorified and Exalted—“For those who do good is the finest reward and an increase” [Yūnus: 26], stating that the increase is to look upon the Face of Allah Most High. This was likewise the understanding of his Companions—may Allah be pleased with them. ⦗1048⦘ Thus, the People of Truth found all they needed in this, together with the mass-transmitted sound reports from the Prophet—peace and blessings be upon him—concerning the vision of the Face of Allah—Glorified and Exalted. The scholars received these reports wholeheartedly, and they knew the interpretation of the verse with which you opposed the People of Truth better than you, O Jahmī.
If someone asks, “What, then, is the interpretation of His words—Glorified and Exalted—‘No vision can encompass Him’ [al-Anām: 103]?” he is told: According to the scholars, it means that no vision encompasses or contains Him—Glorified and Exalted. They will see Him without encompassing Him and will have no doubt about their vision of Him. In the same way, a man may truthfully say, “I saw the sky,” even though his sight did not encompass the whole sky or fully comprehend it. Likewise, a man may truthfully say, “I saw the sea,” even though his sight did not comprehend the entire sea or encompass it. This is how the scholars explained it—if you have any understanding.