35 Preface ۞ مَثَلُ الجَنَّةِ الَّتي وُعِدَ المُتَّقونَ ۖ تَجري مِن تَحتِهَا الأَنهارُ ۖ أُكُلُها دائِمٌ وَظِلُّها ۚ تِلكَ عُقبَى الَّذينَ اتَّقَوا ۖ وَعُقبَى الكافِرينَ النّارُYusuf AliThe parable of the Garden which the righteous are promised!- beneath it flow rivers: perpetual is the enjoyment thereof1 and the shade therein:2 such is the end of the Righteous; and the end of Unbelievers in the Fire.3For the comprehensive meaning of the root akala (literally ’to eat'), see 5:66, n, 776. In its derived meaning, it means fruit and enjoyment of all kinds, spiritual as well as other. The joys of heaven are not like the joys of the earth, which fade away or cloy. The joys of heaven are pure, lasting, and without any of the drawbacks which we associate with the joys of the sense.Zill: literally shade, hence, shelter, protection, security. All these meanings are implied. Shade is one of the delights of a garden. Cf. 4:57, and n. 579.In this, as no other place, the Fire is contrasted with the Garden, as misery is contrasted with bliss. We can also imagine other incidents in contrast with those of the Garden; e.g., with the Fire will be drought, aridity, thirst, instead of beautiful rivers; pain and suffering, instead of perpetual delight; no protection against the fierceness of the heat, as contrasted with the cool shades ever deepening as you proceed in the Garden.