and dwellings. He has told us that it contains milk, honey, wine, water, meat, fruit, silk, gold, silver, ḥūr (heavenly maidens), and lofty palaces.

Ibn ʿAbbās—may Allah be pleased with him—said, “Nothing in this world bears any resemblance to what is in Paradise except the shared names.” If, then, those realities that Allah has described correspond in name only to what we know in this life, without actually resembling them—and the difference between the two is of a magnitude known only to Allah—how much greater must be the distance between the Creator and His creation. The Creator’s transcendence above His creatures is far greater than the difference between the realities of the Hereafter and those of this world, for one created thing is nearer to another created thing that shares its name than the Creator is to the created order. This is plain and evident.

Because of this, people have split into three groups on the matter:

1. The first group—the early generations (salaf), the leading scholars, and their followers—affirmed everything Allah has reported about Himself and about the Last Day, all the while recognizing the gulf between worldly realities and those of the Hereafter, and understanding that Allah’s distinction from His creation is even greater.
2. The second group consists of those who affirmed what Allah has reported concerning the Hereafter