Gems
of the Quran: The Gates of Hell vs. The Gates of Paradise - Abdul
Sattar
One of the beauties
of the Quran is its revelation in the Arabic language. Some of the
gems that one can glean from its words, neither require one to know
13 Arabic sciences nor to have studied for 13 years. Knowing the
effects of a single letter can change the story, the tapestry that
the Quran creates for us. InshAllah examples like this will encourage
us to drown ourselves in the ocean that is the Quran and to learn its
language.
Allah says in Surah Zumar 39/71:
وَسِيقَ
الَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا إِلَى جَهَنَّمَ
زُمَرًا حَتَّى إِذَا جَاؤُوهَا فُتِحَتْ
أَبْوَابُهَا وَقَالَ لَهُمْ خَزَنَتُهَا
أَلَمْ يَأْتِكُمْ رُسُلٌ مِّنكُمْ
يَتْلُونَ عَلَيْكُمْ آيَاتِ رَبِّكُمْ
وَيُنذِرُونَكُمْ لِقَاءَ يَوْمِكُمْ
هَذَا قَالُوا بَلَى وَلَكِنْ حَقَّتْ
كَلِمَةُ الْعَذَابِ عَلَى الْكَافِرِينَ
- قِيلَ
ادْخُلُوا أَبْوَابَ جَهَنَّمَ خَالِدِينَ
فِيهَا فَبِئْسَ مَثْوَى الْمُتَكَبِّرِينَ
And
those who disbelieved will be driven to Hell in groups till when they
reach it, the gates thereof will be opened. And its keepers will say:
“Did not the Messengers come to you from yourselves, reciting to
you the Ayaat of your Lord, and warning you of the meeting of this
Day of yours” They will say: “Yes,” but the Word of torment has
been justified against the disbelievers!
Now
let us take a look at the verse in the same Surah which talks about
the people of Paradise 39/73-74:
وَسِيقَ الَّذِينَ اتَّقَوْا رَبَّهُمْ إِلَى الْجَنَّةِ زُمَرًا حَتَّى إِذَا جَاؤُوهَا وَفُتِحَتْ أَبْوَابُهَا وَقَالَ لَهُمْ خَزَنَتُهَا سَلَامٌ عَلَيْكُمْ طِبْتُمْ فَادْخُلُوهَا خَالِدِينَ - وَقَالُوا الْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ الَّذِي صَدَقَنَا وَعْدَهُ وَأَوْرَثَنَا الْأَرْضَ نَتَبَوَّأُ مِنَ الْجَنَّةِ حَيْثُ نَشَاءُ فَنِعْمَ أَجْرُ الْعَامِلِينَ
And
those who had Taqwa will be led to Paradise in groups till when they
reach it, and its gates will be opened and its keepers will say:
“Salam `Alaykum (peace be upon you)! You have done well, so enter
here to abide therein forever.”) (74. And they will say: “All the
praises and thanks be to Allah Who has fulfilled His promise to us
and has made us inherit the land. We can dwell in Paradise where we
will; how excellent a reward for the workers!”
These
translations however, do no justice to a slight, beautiful, and
amazing difference between these two which can only be made beautiful
in the subtlety of Arabic. Let us take a look at these two again,
focusing only on the first sentence of each verse - I have
differentiated the parts that seem to be the only difference between
the two:
وَسِيقَ
الَّذِينَ
كَـفَرُواْ إِلَى جَهَنَّمَ زُمَراً
حَتَّى إِذَا جَاؤُوهَا فُتِحَتْ
أَبْوَابُهَا
And
those who disbelieved will be driven to Hell in groups till when they
reach it, the gates thereof will be opened.
and
وَسِيقَ الَّذِينَ اتَّقَوْاْ رَبَّهُمْ إِلَى الّجَنَّةِ زُمَراً حَتَّى إِذَا جَاؤُوهَا وَفُتِحَتْ أَبْوَابُهَا
Glancing
quickly we may think the only difference between these two is that
the first group is الَّذِينَ
كَـفَرُواْ (those
who disbelieve) and are being driven إِلَى
جَهَنَّمَ (to Hell),
whereas the second group is الَّذِينَ
اتَّقَوْاْ رَبَّهُمْ إِلَى الّجَنَّةِ
(to Paradise).
However,
we missed something. In the second verse… instead of saying
فُتِحَتْ
أَبْوَابُهَا (the
Gates will be opened), Allah says وَفُتِحَتْ
أَبْوَابُهَاو added)
in front of the phrase. This letter و
changes the image
completely.
Explanation:
In
the first group, the people who rejected belief in Allah and His
Prophets, are being driven to hell in large groups. When they reach
Hellfire…فُتِحَتْ
أَبْوَابُهَا!
Suddenly and with no warning, the massive gates of Hellfire ambush
them and open before them. They were
being driven somewhere by the angels, prodded like cattle, and
brought before this structure, and these massive gates SUDDENLY
OPEN. Imagine their sound as Surah Mulk
says, that Hellfire will be shrieking and yelling. It will be calling
out for fuel. And its fuel is men and stones. “Indeed, Hell is a
place of ambush” as is written in Sura Naba. The
gates slam open as their FIRST ambush and the people are shown the
eternal fate that awaits them.
In
the second group however, Allah says: وَفُتِحَتْ
أَبْوَابُهَا. The
people are being driven to the gates of Paradise. They are being
taken there and they come upon Paradise….and وَفُتِحَتْ
أَبْوَابُهَا -
They find the gates ALREADY OPEN. They
saw it while coming upon it, they saw it as they came upon it, they
are able to gaze into the open doors. This
SINGLE LETTER و
causes the image of
these gates to change by showing the
state of the gates as the people
come upon them. There is no surprise.
There is no questioning. There is no wonder if this place is meant
for them….it is meant for them. They are welcome. The gates are
open already and it is why they have been taken there. Paradise is
theirs and they are being called into it from these gates.
A
single letter tells us that the gates of hellfire will ambush the
people of Hell, but that the gates of paradise will be wide open
waiting for its inhabitants to enter. May Allah make us of those
people who will be taken to the gates of Paradise.
(those
who feared and knew their Lord) and are being driven (there is a
letter
إِنَّآ
أَنْزَلْنَاهُ قُرْآنًا عَرَبِيًّا
لَّعَلَّكُمْ تَعْقِلُونَ
Indeed,
we have sent it down as an Arabic Quran in order that you might
understand.
And Allah knows best.
Abdul Sattar
Suhaib
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