Eyes Overflowing with Tears

The seventh juzʾ, which is still Sūrat al-Māʾidah, the fifth sūrah of the Qur'an, begins with another incident, concerning another group of Christians. It opens:

When they listen to, when they hear, that which has been revealed to the Messenger (peace be upon him) — the Qur'an — tarā aʿyunahum tafīḍu mina al-damʿ: their eyes are seen to fill. They weep; tears flow from their eyes. Mimmā ʿarafū mina al-ḥaqq: because of the truth they have now recognised. The Qur'an speaks the truth — truths that were in their hearts, perhaps never given voice, waiting only to be realised. When they hear the Qur'an, it at once makes absolute sense; it accords with their fiṭrah and their nature, and this is what moves them to weep. Hence yaqūlūna rabbanā āmannā fa-ktubnā maʿa al-shāhidīn: they proclaim — our Lord, they invoke Him, saying: we believe; so write us among the witnesses.

Why should we not? Wa-mā lanā lā nuʾminu bi-llāh — a most wonderful expression. Why should we not believe? Wa-mā jāʾanā mina al-ḥaqqi wa-naṭmaʿu an yudkhilanā rabbunā maʿa al-qawmi al-ṣāliḥīn: when the truth has come to us; and why should we not hope that our Lord will admit us along with, or among, the people who are righteous?

Then Allah (swt) — fa-athābahumu Allāhu bi-mā qālū — on account of what they said, or for what they said, rewarded them with jannāt, gardens. The word Jannah deserves attention. In many of our languages, our ethnic languages, we use the word Jannah — jannat, jannah, however it is pronounced. It is an Arabic word, from the same root as jinn. Junūn means insanity; jinn means the genie; and Jannah means the garden. What is the similarity, the common factor, between them? It is that each comes from the root of jinn, or janna, which means for something to be overcome — to be veiled and covered. The jinn are veiled, and for that reason are called jinn. Junūn covers the mind, so that the person cannot think straight, and for that reason it is called insanity, junūn. And the garden — what has the garden to do with it? These are truly lush gardens that will be covered in greenery, greenery that truly appeals to the heart. That is why the life of Paradise will be a life out of doors. There are buildings, certainly; there are hollowed-out pearls for the azwāj, and all the rest. But why would one need to be inside when the outside is there? Living in the West, in cold countries such as the United Kingdom — generally cold — one is confined indoors, and so one supposes that to be life, and arranges everything accordingly. But those who truly understand nature do not care for buildings. That is why in Paradise a building is needed — for concealment, and so on — but what one has there is lush gardens. That is what Jannah is, and that is the dominant idea of Jannah; that is why it is the garden. Allah, then, rewarded them with gardens beneath which rivers flow, in which they will abide for ever. That is the reward of the doers of good. May Allah make us among the doers of good.