سورة الزخرف

Ali ibn Ibrahim (may Allah have mercy on him): يُطافُ عَلَیْهِم بِصِحَافٍ مِّن ذَهَبٍ و أَکْوابٍ [There shall be sent round to them golden bowls and drinking-cups] — here akwab means glasses and cups.

Imam Hadi (peace be upon him): As for Paradise, indeed every kind of food, drink, whatever the souls desire and the eyes delight in, and whatever amusement the heart wishes and the eye takes pleasure in, is in it, and Allah had made all of it lawful for Adam. But that tree from which He had forbidden Adam and his wife was the tree of envy [named as a tree by way of metaphor]. He had enjoined them not to look with the eye of envy upon those whom Allah had favoured above His other creatures. Adam forgot and envied them; "and We did not find in him firm resolve!" (Ta Ha/115)

Imam Mahdi (may Allah hasten his noble reappearance): In Paradise women do not become pregnant and there is no childbirth, virginity is not removed from women, there is no postpartum bleeding, and there is no hardship of the period of infancy; and therein is whatever souls desire and eyes delight in. When a believer wishes to have a child, Allah the Mighty and Majestic creates the child in the form he desires, without the woman becoming pregnant and without the matters connected with childbirth, just as He created Adam (peace be upon him) as a lesson [in this same manner].

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): The believer in Paradise will sit at his dining spread for the length of his lifetime, and in each meal he will eat the amount of all the food he ate in the world.

The Prophet (peace be upon him and his family): O servants of Allah! Know that alongside all this punishment there is the mercy of Allah, which is not out of the reach of His servants — a Paradise whose expanse is as wide as the heavens and the earth, prepared for the pious. It is a good after which there is never any evil, its pleasures bring no weariness, and its gathering does not end in separation. Its dwellers live as neighbours of Allah, the Most Merciful, and beautiful youths, with بِصِحافٍ مِنْ ذَهَبٍ [golden trays] filled with fruit and fragrant herbs in their hands, gird themselves to serve them.

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): Allah has a wall of light, protected with chrysolite and silk and adorned with sundus and brocade. This wall is set as a barrier between our friends and our enemies. When brains boil, souls reach the throats, and livers are scorched by the length of standing at the Mahshar, the friends of Allah are admitted into this place and will be under Allah's protection and safety, for فِیهَا مَا تَشْتَهِی الْأَنْفُسُ وَ تَلَذُّ الْأَعْیُنُ [therein is whatever souls desire and eyes delight in] is provided there. In this place, whatever they wish for and whatever they take pleasure in exists.

The Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) — Zurarah said: I heard Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him) say: ... When the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) set out for Mecca on the Farewell Pilgrimage and, after performing the rites, departed from it ... he said to the people: "Make my camel kneel, for by Allah I will not leave this place until I have conveyed the message and mission of my Lord" ... Then he said: "Know and be aware that whoever I was his master, now Ali is his master ...". When three days had passed and the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) sat to answer the people's questions, a man from Banu Makhzum called Umar ibn Utbah — and in another narration Harith ibn Nu'man al-Fihri — came to him and said: "O Muhammad! I ask you about three matters!" He said: "Ask whatever you wish". He said: ... "Inform me about this man" — meaning Ali ibn Abi Talib (peace be upon him) — "and what you have said about him: مَنْ کُنْتُ مَوْلَاهُ فَعَلِیٌّ مَوْلَاه [Whoever I was his master, Ali is his master] ..., is this from yourself or from your Lord?" The Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) said: "The revelation to me is from Allah, and its bringer is Jibra'il, and I am the announcer, and I have never said anything without the permission of my Lord". Then that Makhzumi man raised his head to the sky and said: "O Allah! If Muhammad is truthful in what he says, send upon me a flame of burning fire". And in another narration in al-Tafsir it is given: He said: "O Allah, if this is the truth from You, rain down stones upon us from the sky!" and he turned away. By Allah, he had not gone far when a black cloud cast its shadow over him and let loose thunder and lightning and a thunderbolt, and the thunderbolt struck him and the fire burned him. Then Jibra'il descended saying: "Recite, O Muhammad! سَأَلَ سائِلٌ بِعَذابٍ واقِعٍ لِلْکافِرینَ لَیْسَ لَهُ دافِعٌ [A questioner asked for a punishment that would befall — for the disbelievers, none can repel it] — from Allah, Lord of the Ascending Ways [the Lord whose angels ascend and rise upon the heavens]! (al-Ma'arij / 1-3). The questioner is Umar [ibn Utbah] and the burned one is Umar [ibn Utbah]". Then the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) said to his companions: "Did you see?" They said: "Yes!" He said: "And did you hear?" They said: "Yes!" He said: "Blessed is the one who loves him (Ali (peace be upon him)) and woe to the one who is his enemy! It is as though I see Ali (peace be upon him) and his Shia on the Day of Resurrection, made young and riding on camels in the gardens of paradise, crowns upon their heads and kohl applied to their eyes, لا خَوْفٌ عَلَیْهِمْ وَ لا هُمْ یَحْزَنُونَ [and no fear or grief shall be upon them] (al-Baqarah / 62), supported by Allah's great pleasure; [the contentment and] pleasure of Allah is greater [than all of these], and that is the supreme triumph! (al-Tawbah / 72). Until they settle in the Sacred Enclosure in the neighbourhood of the Lord of the Worlds, where whatever the hearts desire and the eyes delight in is prepared."