The Quran

۞ مَثَلُ الجَنَّةِ الَّتي وُعِدَ المُتَّقونَ ۖ تَجري مِن تَحتِهَا الأَنهارُ ۖ أُكُلُها دائِمٌ وَظِلُّها ۚ تِلكَ عُقبَى الَّذينَ اتَّقَوا ۖ وَعُقبَى الكافِرينَ النّارُ

Muhammad Asad

THE PARABLE of the paradise promised to those who are conscious of God [is that of a garden] through which running waters flow:¹ [but, unlike an earthly garden,] its fruits will be everlasing, and [so will be] its shade.² Such will be the destiny of those who remain conscious of God - just as the destiny of those who deny the truth will be the fire.³

This rendering (and the interpolation of the words "is that of a garden") reproduces literally the interpretation given to the above passage by Az-Zajjaj, as quoted by Zamakhshari and - in an abbreviated form - by Razi; according to Zamakhshari, this passage serves "as a parabolic illustration, by means of something which we know from our experience, of something that is beyond the reach of our perception" (tamthilan li-ma ghaba 'annd bi-ma nushahid). As in the similar (but wider) reference to "the parable of paradise" in 47:15, we are here reminded that the Qur'anic descriptions of what awaits man after resurrection are, of necessity, metaphorical, since the human mind cannot conceive of anything that is - both in its elements and its totality - entirely different from anything that can be experienced in this world. (See in this connection Appendix I.)
I.e., its gift of happiness. Regarding this metaphorical meaning of zill ("shade"), see the last clause of 4:57 and the corresponding note 74.
For my rendering of 'uqba, in this context, as "destiny" see note 45 above.