Forty Gems of Beauty — Page 43
43 Explanatory Notes Against my ordinary rule of selection, I quoted this comparatively longer Hadith, as through it we come to know of certain facts that are as useful as they are important and basic and which are: 1. That there is not merely one grade in Paradise but that they are numerous, of which Firdaus is the highest and, so to say, is the source of all the streams of the Paradise. 2. That the difference between the highest grade of the sit-at- home Muslims and the lowest grade of the Muslims who fight in His cause will be as great as the distance between heaven and earth. 3. That Muslims should not only strive to deserve the grades reserved for soldiers of God but also that the highest of those grades, i. e. , the Firdaus, should be their target. 4. That the various grades of Paradise correspond to the various degrees of nearness to God, the Excellent, and therefore it is that the top-most grade of Paradise has been assigned a place close to the Divine throne. 5. That the gifts of Paradise are not of a material character; they are spiritual in nature for their gradation is demarcated in terms of nearness to God. And though their spirit will partake of the body, as deeds do partake of it, nonetheless, in Paradise, even the human body will be of a spiritual character; therefore, the physical gifts of that place will be, according to their basic spiritual standard, clear and pure. This is the fine spiritual wisdom that accrues from this Hadith. This observation of the Holy Prophet (May peace and blessings of Allah be on him) is aimed at elevating the objective and ideal of the Muslims.