Malfuzat - Volume VII — Page 399
24 September 1905 399 streams flow. In this verse, the true nature of Paradise has been disclosed by Almighty Allah, saying that the relationship that streams have with gardens is the very relationship and connec- tion between righteous deeds and faith: just as a garden or a tree cannot remain green without water, similarly no faith can remain alive and established without righteous deeds. If there is faith without good works, then [that] faith is vain, and if there are works without faith, then those works are hypocrisy. Therefore, the truth and philosophy of Paradise pre- sented by the Holy Quran is that it mirrors the faith and works of this world. The Paradise of every person begins with his own deeds and faith, and its pleasure begins to be felt in this very world, and the gardens and streams of faith and deeds are visi- ble in a subtle manner. Nevertheless, in the Hereafter these gardens will be tangi- bly felt and their external existence will be seen. This is what is proved by the Holy Quran that faith is watered by righteous deeds without which it dries up. So two things have been explained here; one is that that Paradise is a garden. Secondly, those trees are irrigated by streams. Read the Holy Quran and ponder over it from beginning to end, then you will come to enjoy what the true essence is. We do not present allegory and metaphor at all; rather, this is the truth of the matter. The Almighty God who created man from nothingness and who is capable of new creation will most certainly represent man’s faith as trees and will represent his actions as streams and will show them as reality; that is, their existence will be visible outwardly as well. It can also be understood from a simple example. In a dream, a person eats good and sweet fruit and drinks cold and refresh- ing water, and he truly feels that it is real fruit and cold water. At that time, there is no question about it in his mind. He feels