called zafayān is swift. A zafayān bow shoots arrows swiftly.”

Thus, the words of Allah Most High, “Indeed, the home of the Hereafter—that is the true life,” admit two meanings.

The first is that life in the Hereafter is true life, because nothing mars it and it never ends. That is, it is untouched by what mars life in this world. On this interpretation, hayawān is a verbal noun.

The second is that it is the abode that neither perishes, ends, nor passes away, as living beings in this world do. It therefore deserves this name more than a living creature that perishes and dies.

The eighth name: al-Firdaws. Allah Most High says:

23:11 “Those are the inheritors, who will inherit al-Firdaws; they will abide therein forever.”

And Allah Most High says:

18:107, 108 “Indeed, those who believe and do righteous deeds will have the Gardens of al-Firdaws as their welcome. They will abide therein forever, never desiring to leave.”

The ninth name: the Gardens of Bliss. Allah Most High says:

31:8 “Indeed, those who believe and do righteous deeds will have the Gardens of Bliss.”

This, too, is a comprehensive name for all the gardens, because they contain the many things their inhabitants enjoy: food, drink, clothing, beautiful forms, pleasant scents, delightful views, spacious dwellings, and other pleasures, both outward and inward.

The tenth name: the Secure Abode. Allah Most High says:

44:51 “Indeed, the righteous will be in a secure abode.”

The eleventh and twelfth names: the Seat of Truth and the Sure Footing.

Allah Most High says:

54:54, 55 “Indeed, the righteous will be amid gardens and rivers, in a seat of truth.”

He thus called His Paradise a “seat of truth” because everything one could desire in a fine dwelling is found there,