Sunan at-Tirmithiy - The Book of Describing Paradise

[Administrator]

Our members' work in Sunan at-Tirmithiy - The Book of Describing Paradise. May Allah accept all their efforts. Ameen

عَنْ رَسُولِ اللَّهِ ‏‏صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ ‏أنَّهُ قَالَ إِنَّ فِي الْجَنَّةِ لَشَجَرَةً يَسِيرُ الرَّاكِبُ فِي ظِلِّهَا مِائَةَ سَنَةٍ.
حديث صحيح أخرجه الترمذى فى سنن الترمذى كتاب صفة الجنة رقم 2714 ورواه أبو هريرة الدوسى.

The Prophet, peace and blessings of God be upon him, said, “Indeed in Paradise there is a tree: a riding traveller proceeds in its shade for a hundred years.”
An authentic hadīth reported by at-Tirmithiy: “The Book of Describing Paradise” in Sunan at-Tirmithiy: hadīth 2714, narrated by Abu-Hurayrah ad-Dawsiy.

[Administrator]

عَنْ النَّبِيِّ ‏صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ ‏قَالَ ‏فِي الْجَنَّةِ شَجَرَةٌ يَسِيرُ الرَّاكِبُ فِي ظِلِّهَا مِائَةَ عَامٍ لَا يَقْطَعُهَا وَقَالَ ذَلِكَ الظِّلُّ الْمَمْدُودُ.
حديث حسن غريب أخرجه الترمذى فى سنن الترمذى كتاب صفة الجنة رقم 2715 ورواه سعد بن مالك بن سنان أبو سعيد الخدرى.


The Prophet, peace and blessings of God be upon him, said, “In paradise there is a tree, a riding traveler proceeds in its shade* for a hundred years without (completely) crossing it”. He added, “That is the extended shade (mentioned in the Qur'ān 11).”
A good scarce hadīth reported by at-Tirmithiy: “The Book of Describing Paradise”, in Sunan at-Tirmithiy: hadīth number 2715, narrated by Sa'd Ibn-Mālik Ibn-Sinān Abu-Sa'īd al-Khudriy.

* Interpreters of this hadīth argue that shade here refers to the splendor and grandness of the tree rather than its ability to shelter from the heat of the sun, because in paradise there will be no heat or burning sun.

[Tarju-Man]

I wonder whether there is really a need to stipulate this explanation of "shade" - true, there will be neither extreme of heat or cold [76:13], but I don't see why we would need to deny that the People of the Garden can enjoy beautiful warmth and bask in the refreshing shade, keeping themselves occupied in what gives them maximum rest and satisfaction. It's not as though we deny fruits of Jannah because there is no hunger! True, it is allegory but over-interpreting rather takes the sweetness out of the description which Allah (s.w.t.) and His Messenger (s.a.w.) chose.

[elbatal]

Alsalam alaykom,

Thank you for your valuable comment. It is indeed a blessing to hear such important remarks that would make us look again and again to be sure that we got it right instead of being content with inaccurate understandings. The reason why we added this footnote is because we have not depended on our understanding or any personal interpretation, but preferred to translate an important part of the interpretation of the hadith (tafsir).

The tafsir of the hadith states what we have added:

‏( في ظلها ) ‏
‏أي في نعيمها وراحتها , ومنه قولهم : عيش ظليل وقيل معنى ظلها ناحيتها , وأشار بذلك إلى امتدادها , ومنه قولهم : أنا في ظلك أي في ناحيتك قال القرطبي والمحوج إلى هذا التأويل أن الظل في عرف أهل الدنيا ما بقي من حر الشمس وأذاها وليس في الجنة شمس ولا أذى
تحفة الأحوذي بشرح جامع الترمذي

Thank you again, and God bless.

Nadia El Batal
Head of the Glossary Branch