إِنَّ الَّذينَ آمَنوا وَعَمِلُوا الصّالِحاتِ كانَت لَهُم جَنّاتُ الفِردَوسِ نُزُلًا

As for those who have faith and do righteous deeds they shall have the gardens of firdaws for abode.

EXEGESIS

Firdaws is a name used here for paradise. It is used one other time in the Quran in 23:11. Different opinions regarding its meaning have been mentioned:

1. It is a garden (bustān) which has in it flowers and fruits and other enjoyable things.^{‎[1]Tibyan, 7/98.}
2. From Kaʿb al-Aḥbār, that it is a garden which has grapes.^{‎[2]Tibyan, 7/98; Tabari, 16/29. Ālūsī also mentions that Kaʿb said the word is Syriac in origin and this is the meaning of the word in that language (Alusi, 8/370). Unfortunately, as usual he does not provide a reference for this report.}
3. From al-Ḍaḥḥāk, it is a garden surrounded by trees.^{‎[3]Thalabi, 6/202.}
4. An expansive garden with trees and fruits.^{‎[4]Tabrisi, 6/768; Tahqiq, 9/51.}

More light can be shed as to its meaning by examining the etymology and origin of the word. It is reported from Mujāhid ibn Jabr that it is ‘garden’ in Greek (rūmiyyah),^{‎[5]Tibyan, 7/98; Tabari, 16/29.} and from ʿIkramah that it is ‘garden’ in Ethiopic.^{‎[6]Baghawi, 3/222.} Persian and Syriac have also been suggested as origins,^{‎[7]Muhit, 7/232.} as well as Hebrew and Aramaic.^{‎[8]Tahqiq, 9/51.} It is reported from Suddī that it is Nabatean in origin from the word firdāsā, meaning grapevines (karm).^{‎[9]Alusi, 8/370.} Although al-Farrāʾ was apparently of the opinion that it is of Arabic origin and that the plural of firdaws is farādīs,^{‎[10]Qurtubi, 11/68.} but this is very unlikely.

Jeffries traces the origin of the word back to the Persian pairidaeza (pardīs), meaning a circular enclosure.^{‎[11]In modern Farsi pardīs is still used to mean paradise, and this is the probable origin of the word in English as well.} From there it worked its way into many other languages (probably the reason for the disagreement as to its origin). In Greek it was used by Xenophon to refer to the parks and gardens of Persian kings. He suggests that it was introduced into Arabic in Thamudic times by the Arabs who had contact with the Aramaic speaking Christians of Mesopotamia or northern Arabia.^{‎[12]Arthur Jeffries, Foreign Vocabulary of the Quran (Leiden: Brill, 2007), pp. 223-224.}

Nuzul (abode) and its various meanings were discussed in verse 102. There it was used ironically and in contrast to its usage here, where it describes the rest afforded to the people of paradise.

EXPOSITION

The attention now shifts from the faithless to the faithful.

As for those who have faith and do righteous deeds: unlike the faithless whose actions suffered iḥbāṭ (failure or annihilation), the righteous actions of the believers result in reward, because their faith links it to the servitude of God, which is the key to receiving divine blessing in the hereafter.

They shall have the gardens of firdaws for abode: in Arabic the verb kānat (translated here as shall), literally means ‘was’ or ‘has been’. It has been suggested that this is used because it has been known to be so in God’s pre-eternal knowledge,^{‎[13]Baghawi, 3/222.} or that He has promised it beforehand for the believers. Ālūsī also compares it to verse 102 saying that there the verb aʿtadnā (prepared) is used, an indication that paradise is a result of God’s eternal mercy, whilst hell is the result of the actions of the evildoers.^{‎[14]Alusi, 8/369.} More likely, this is probably a reference to the fact that paradise is already prepared and waiting for the believers, just like how in verse 102 we are told hell is already prepared.

INSIGHTS FROM HADITH

1. From Abū Baṣīr, that Imam al-Ṣādiq (a) said: ‘This was revealed about Abū Dharr, Miqdād, Salmān al-Fārsī, and ʿAmmār ibn Yāsir. God has made the gardens of firdaws an abode for them.’^{‎[15]Qummi, 2/46.}

Note: Tabatabai points out that this report must either be understood as an application of the verse (meaning it is generally about the believers and these four have been mentioned as examples of true believers), since the verse and the surah are Meccan and Salmān al-Fārsī did not become a Muslim until after the migration; or it must be ignored because of its weak chain of narration.^{‎[16]Mizan, 13/402.}

2. From ʿUbādah ibn al-Ṣāmit, that the Prophet said: ‘Paradise is a hundred levels, between each two levels there is a distance as far as the sky (samāʾ) and earth. Firdaws is the highest of those levels and the four rivers of heaven begin their flow from there. When you ask God for something, ask him for firdaws.’^{‎[17]Ahmad, 5/321; Tabari, 16/29-30; Tabrisi, 6/769;}

REVIEW OF TAFSĪR LITERATURE

Some have suggested that nuzul as a temporary rest stop is used for hell and paradise to indicate that there are things even after these that cannot be described. Other verses have been quoted in support of this, such as, There they will have whatever they wish, and with Us there is yet more (50:35), No one knows what has been kept hidden for them of comfort, as a reward for what they used to do (32:17), and there will appear to them from Allah what they had never reckoned (39:47).^{‎[18]Mizan, 13/401.} The more apparent meaning of these verses though is that the pleasures of paradise and the punishments of hell are beyond what we can imagine now,^{‎[19]39:47 states that the faithless will be taken to hell, a place the existence of which they used to deny, therefore it is something which they had never reckoned to be real.} not that there are some other places waiting after those. This is also what is generally understood from the many verses that speak of the people of paradise entering therein forever, They will remain in it for as long as the heavens and the earth endure (11:108), nor will they [ever] be expelled from it (15:48), as well as what we read in the beginning of the surah, To abide in it forever (verse 3), and of course what the next verse states, To remain [forever] in them, from where they will not seek to shift.

INSIGHTS FROM OTHER TRADITIONS

1. He will render to each one according to his works.^{‎[20]Romans 2:6.}
2. I the Lord search the heart and test the mind, to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his deeds.^{‎[21]Jeremiah 17:10.}
3. The kingdom of heaven is like a king who prepared a wedding banquet for his son.^{‎[22]Matthew 22:2.}
4. Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world.^{‎[23]Matthew 25:34.}
5. But, as it is written, “What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him.”^{‎[24]1 Corinthians 2:9.}
6. Jesus answered him, “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise.”^{‎[25]Luke 23:43.}

Note: The word for ‘paradise’ in the Biblical Greek is paradeisō. See also 2 Corinthians 12:4 and Revelation 2:7.

[1] Tibyan, 7/98.
[2] Tibyan, 7/98; Tabari, 16/29. Ālūsī also mentions that Kaʿb said the word is Syriac in origin and this is the meaning of the word in that language (Alusi, 8/370). Unfortunately, as usual he does not provide a reference for this report.
[3] Thalabi, 6/202.
[4] Tabrisi, 6/768; Tahqiq, 9/51.
[5] Tibyan, 7/98; Tabari, 16/29.
[6] Baghawi, 3/222.
[7] Muhit, 7/232.
[8] Tahqiq, 9/51.
[9] Alusi, 8/370.
[10] Qurtubi, 11/68.
[11] In modern Farsi pardīs is still used to mean paradise, and this is the probable origin of the word in English as well.
[12] Arthur Jeffries, Foreign Vocabulary of the Quran (Leiden: Brill, 2007), pp. 223-224.
[13] Baghawi, 3/222.
[14] Alusi, 8/369.
[15] Qummi, 2/46.
[16] Mizan, 13/402.
[17] Ahmad, 5/321; Tabari, 16/29-30; Tabrisi, 6/769;
[18] Mizan, 13/401.
[19] 39:47 states that the faithless will be taken to hell, a place the existence of which they used to deny, therefore it is something which they had never reckoned to be real.
[20] Romans 2:6.
[21] Jeremiah 17:10.
[22] Matthew 22:2.
[23] Matthew 25:34.
[24] 1 Corinthians 2:9.
[25] Luke 23:43.