and He, the Exalted, says: “In them are fruits, date-palms, and pomegranates” (Qur’an 55:68).
He also says: “In them are two kinds of every fruit” (Qur’an 55:52).
Abu Bakr ibn Abī al-Dunyā said: “ʿAbd Allāh ibn Saʿīd narrated to us; Ziyād ibn al-Ḥasan ibn al-Furāt al-Qazzāz narrated to us, from his father, from his grandfather, from Abū Ḥāzim, from Abū Hurayrah, who said that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:
‘There is no tree in Paradise except that its trunk is of gold.’
Al-Tirmidhī likewise transmitted it from Abū Saʿīd ʿAbd Allāh ibn Saʿīd al-Kindī al-Ashajj, and he declared it ḥasan ṣaḥīḥ (1).
Abu Bakr ibn Abī al-Dunyā also said: “Ḥamzah ibn al-ʿAbbās narrated to me; ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿUthmān narrated to us; Ibn al-Mubārak narrated to us; Sufyān narrated to us, from Ḥammād, from Saʿīd ibn Jubayr, from Ibn ʿAbbās, who said:
‘The date-palms of Paradise have trunks of green emerald; their crownshafts (2) are red gold; their fronds are garments for the people of Paradise—out of them are cut their capes (3) and their robes. Their fruit is like great jars and water-skins: whiter than milk, sweeter than honey, softer than butter, and containing no pits.’ (4)
Ibn Abī al-Dunyā further said: “Ibrāhīm ibn Saʿīd al-Jawharī narrated to me; Abū ʿĀmir al-ʿAqadī (5) narrated to us; Zamʿah ibn Ṣāliḥ narrated to us, from Salamah ibn Wahrām, from ʿIkrimah, from Ibn ʿAbbās, who said:
‘The “outspread shade” is a tree in Paradise standing on a single trunk; a determined rider could travel for one hundred years beneath its shade, in every direction. The people of Paradise—[from among the dwellers of lofty chambers and others]—will go out to it and converse beneath its shade. Then some of them will desire, and recall, the amusements of the world, so Allah, Exalted, will send a breeze from Paradise that will set that tree swaying with every form of entertainment that ever existed in the world.’ (6)
In the two Ṣaḥīḥs, from the narration of Wuhaib, from Abū Ḥāzim, from Sahl ibn Saʿd, it is established that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:
‘In Paradise there is a tree beneath whose shade a rider can travel for one hundred years without reaching its end.’ (7)
I related this to al-Nuʿmān ibn Abī ʿAyyāsh al-Zurraqī, who said: ‘Abū Saʿīd al-Khudrī narrated to me, from the Prophet ﷺ:
“In Paradise there is a tree beneath whose shade a swift, lean stallion ridden at full gallop could travel for one hundred years without reaching its end.”’ (8)