“Give glad tidings to those who believe and do righteous deeds that they will have gardens beneath which rivers flow. Whenever they are provided with fruit from them as provision, they will say, ‘This is what we were provided with before.’ They will be given it in resemblance; therein they will have purified spouses, and therein they will abide forever.” (2:25)

His saying, exalted is He, “Give glad tidings to those who believe”: that is, inform them. Glad tidings are any truthful report by which the complexion of the face changes; the term is used for both good and evil, though it is more commonly used for good. “And do righteous deeds”: that is, righteous acts—meaning the believers who are among those who obey. Uthman ibn Affan, may Allah be pleased with him, said concerning “and do righteous deeds”: that is, they make their deeds sincere, as He says, “So let him do righteous work” (al-Kahf 18:110)—that is, free of showing off. Muadh said: A righteous deed contains four things: knowledge, intention, patience, and sincerity.

“That they will have gardens”: the plural of garden. A garden is an orchard containing fruit-bearing trees; it is so called because its trees conceal and cover it. Al-Farra said: A garden is that which contains date palms, while Firdaws is that which contains grapevines.

“Beneath which rivers flow”: that is, beneath their trees and dwellings. “Rivers” means the waters in the rivers, for the riverbed itself does not flow. It is also said that “beneath which” means at their command, in light of His saying, relating Pharaoh’s words, “These rivers flow beneath me” (al-Zukhruf 43:51), meaning, at my command. Rivers is the plural of river, so called for its breadth and brightness; from the same root comes the word for daytime. In the hadith: “The rivers of Paradise flow without channels.” (1)

“Whenever” means whenever. “They are provided” means they are fed. “From them” means from the Garden. “With fruit” means with any fruit; the preposition “from” is supplementary. “As provision” means food. “They will say, ‘This is what we were provided with before.’” The word “before” is in the nominative as an absolute limiting expression. Allah, exalted is He, says, “To Allah belongs the command, before and after” (al-Rum 30:4). It was said that “before” means before, in this world. It was also said: the fruits of Paradise resemble one another in colour but differ in taste; thus, whenever they are given one fruit after another, they suppose it to be the first. “They will be given it”: that is, the provision, “in resemblance.” Ibn Abbas, Mujahid, and al-Rabi said: resembling one another in colour but differing in taste. Al-Hasan said: