The Quran

أُولٰئِكَ لَهُم جَنّاتُ عَدنٍ تَجري مِن تَحتِهِمُ الأَنهارُ يُحَلَّونَ فيها مِن أَساوِرَ مِن ذَهَبٍ وَيَلبَسونَ ثِيابًا خُضرًا مِن سُندُسٍ وَإِستَبرَقٍ مُتَّكِئينَ فيها عَلَى الأَرائِكِ ۚ نِعمَ الثَّوابُ وَحَسُنَت مُرتَفَقًا

Muhammad Asad

theirs shall be gardens of perpetual bliss - [gardens] through which running waters flow - wherein they will be adorned with bracelets of gold and will wear green garments of silk and brocade, [and] wherein upon couches they will recline:¹ how excellent a recompense, and how goodly a place to rest!

Like all other Qur'anic descriptions of happenings in the hereafter, the above reference to the "adornment" of the believers with gold and jewels and silk (cf. similar passages in 22:23, 35:33 and 76:21) and their "reclining upon couches (ara'ik)" is obviously an allegory - in this case, an allegory of the splenddour, the ever-fresh life (symbolized by "green garments"), and the restful fulfilment that awaits them in result of the many acts of self-denial which their faith had imposed on them during their earthly life. - Referring to the symbolism of these joys of paradise, - Razi draws our attention to the difference in the construction of the two parts of this clause: the first part is in the passive form ("they will be adorned...") and the second, in the active ("they will wear..."). In his opinion, the active form alludes to what the righteous will have earned by virtue of their deeds, whereas the passive form denotes all that will be bestowed on them by God above and beyond their deserts.