سورة الأعراف

Imam Baqir (peace be upon him): Zurays said: Imam Baqir (peace be upon him) said concerning the verse لایَدْخُلُونَ الجَنَّةَ حَتَّی یَلِجَ الجَمَلُ فِی سَمِّ الْخِیاطِ [nor shall they enter the garden until the camel pass through the eye of the needle]: "This verse was revealed concerning Talha and Zubayr, and the jamal (camel) in the verse is their jamal (camel)."

Imam Ali (peace be upon him): Abu al-Tufayl said: I heard Ali (peace be upon him) saying: "The companions of the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) who had preserved his words, and Aisha bint Abu Bakr, know that the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) cursed the People of the Camel and the People of the Kharijites. وَ لا یَدْخُلُونَ الجَنَّةَ حَتَّی یَلِجَ الجَمَلُ فِی سَمِّ الْخِیاط [nor shall they enter the garden until the camel pass through the eye of the needle]."

Imam Baqir (peace be upon him): Jabir al-Ju'fi said: Imam Baqir (peace be upon him) said: When Allah wishes to take the soul of the disbeliever, He says: "O Angel of Death, go with your helpers to My enemy..." So the Angel of Death comes to him with an ugly, black face... A large group is with him, and five hundred angels help him, and with them are whips from the heart of Hell which blaze with flames, and they carry with them a black flame and a flame from the flames of Hell... He strikes him with an iron rod a blow which penetrates into every vein and sinew of his body, then he drags him so that his soul rises from the sole of his feet...; then when the soul reaches the throat, the angels strike his face and his back and say to him: "Bring forth your souls! Today you shall be repaid with the chastisement of disgrace for the lies you fabricated against Allah and for turning away with pride from His signs"! [You will regret their state] and this is the meaning of Allah's word who said: [They shall attain their desire]. (An'am/93), "But on the day when they shall see the angels, there shall be no good news for the guilty [rather it will be the day of their chastisement and punishment]!" (Furqan/22). They say: Paradise is forbidden to you, and they say his soul is separated from his body, and the Angel of Death places him between a hammer and an anvil, and blood spurts from his fingernails, and the last thing that is drawn out of him are his eyes, and a severe stench emanates from him which all the inhabitants of the heavens find repulsive, and they say: "The curse of Allah be upon him, upon the stinking disbelieving soul that has departed from the world, and may Allah curse him and the cursers curse him." And when his soul goes up to the lowest heaven, the gates of heaven are closed against him, as is mentioned in this verse: لا تُفَتَّحُ لَهُمْ أَبْوابُ السَّماءِ وَ لا یَدْخُلُونَ الجَنَّةَ حَتَّی یَلِجَ الْجَمَلُ فِی سَمِّ الْخِیاطِ وَ کَذلِکَ نَجْزِی الْمجْرِمِینَ [the doors of heaven shall not be opened for them, nor shall they enter the garden until the camel pass through the eye of the needle; and thus do We reward the guilty]. Allah says: "Return the fire to him again, for I created the human being from it, and to it I return him, and from it I bring him forth another time."

Imam Baqir (peace be upon him): As for the deeds and souls of the believers, they are taken up to the heaven and the gates of the heaven are opened for them. But as for the deed and the soul of the disbeliever, they are taken up, and when they reach the heaven an angel calls out: "Take him down to Sijjin." And that is a valley in Hadramawt called Barahut.

Ali ibn Ibrahim (may Allah have mercy on him): The proof that the eternal Paradise is in the heaven is this saying of Allah the Mighty and Majestic: لاَ تُفَتَّحُ لَهُمْ أَبْوَابُ السَّمَاء وَ لاَ یَدْخُلُونَ الجَنَّةَ [The gates of the heaven shall not be opened for them, nor shall they enter Paradise].

Imam Ali (peace be upon him): The gates of the heaven are opened for you at five times: 1. at the time of the descent of rain; 2. at the time of the charge against the enemy; 3. at the time of the adhan; 4. at the time of the recitation of the Qur'an; 5. at midday and at the time of the break of dawn.

Imam Ali (peace be upon him): As for the locks of the heavens, they are associating partners with Allah, and their keys are the saying of لَا إِلَهَ إِلَّا اللهُ [there is no god but Allah].

Imam Baqir (peace be upon him): Jabir ibn Yazid al-Ju'fi said: It has been narrated from Imam Baqir (peace be upon him) in a hadith about the taking of the disbeliever's soul that he said: "His soul comes out, and the Angel of Death places it between a hammer and an anvil. He crushes the tips of his fingers, and at the end he splits open his eyes. A foul stench rises from it that troubles all the inhabitants of the heavens, and they say: 'May the curse of Allah be upon this foul disbelieving soul that has departed from the world.' Allah curses it, and the cursers curse it. And when his soul is brought to the lowest heaven, the gates of the heaven are shut against him, and that is His saying: لاَ تُفَتَّحُ لَهُمْ أَبْوَابُ السَّمَاء وَ لاَ یَدْخُلُونَ الجَنَّةَ حَتَّی یَلِجَ الجَمَلُ فِی سَمِّ الْخِیَاطِ وَ کَذَلِکَ نَجْزِی المُجْرِمِینَ [The gates of the heaven shall not be opened for them, nor shall they enter Paradise until the camel passes through the eye of the needle; and thus do We reward the guilty]. Allah the Mighty and Majestic says: 'Return it to him. From it [the earth] We created them, and into it We return them, and from it We shall bring them out once more [at the Resurrection]!' (Ta-Ha/55)."

Ibn Abbas (may Allah have mercy on him): وَ لا یَدْخُلُونَ الجَنَّةَ حَتَّی یَلِجَ الجَمَلُ فِی سَمِّ الْخِیاط [and they shall not enter Paradise until the camel passes through the eye of the needle]; its meaning is that they will never enter Paradise, just as a camel will never pass through the eye of a needle.