the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, mentioned that the believer will have in Paradise a pavilion hewn from a single hollow pearl whose height in the sky is sixty miles, and that inside it he will have spouses who cannot see one another. Allah knows best—this is because of the pavilion’s vast expanse, the beauty of its chambers, and the curtains that veil them.

He also informed us that a herald will proclaim among the people of Paradise, “You will live and never die, you will enjoy perfect health and never fall ill,” and so forth. In other words, they will abide in perpetual bliss, fearing neither death nor sickness nor any interruption of the delights they enjoy, just as the Exalted says, “and abundant fruit, never ending and never withheld” (56:32-33).

The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, further told us that the inhabitants of Paradise will have a marketplace every Friday—meaning a period equal to the length of Friday in this world, for there is no prayer, no Friday congregation, and nothing of that sort in Paradise. A breeze resembling the north wind will waft over them, increasing them in beauty and radiance; what is meant is a wind like the north wind in its coolness and pleasantness.

All that is mentioned in these ḥadiths should rouse a person’s longing to perform righteous deeds that will lead him to that abode. May Allah make us and you among its people.

The finest and most exquisite blessing there is that they will behold Allah with a real, direct vision, as He, Most High, says: “Faces on that Day will be radiant, gazing at their Lord” (75:22-23); and He says: “Reclining on couches, they look” (83:23); and He says: “For those who excel is the very best and even more” (10:26)—and the ‘even more’ is gazing upon the Face of Allah, mighty and majestic. I ask Allah the Tremendous, Lord of the mighty Throne, to make me and you among its inhabitants.

1893 – Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) reported that the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said: “The lowest seat any one of you will have in Paradise is that he will be told, ‘Wish,’ and he will keep on wishing and wishing. Then he will be asked, ‘Have you wished?’ He will reply, ‘Yes.’ It will be said to him, ‘You shall have whatever you wished for and the like of it besides.’” Narrated by Muslim.

1894 – Abu Saʿīd al-Khudrī (may Allah be pleased with him) reported that the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said: “Allah, Blessed and Exalted, will say to the people of Paradise, ‘O people of Paradise!’ and they will respond, ‘At Your service, our Lord…’