Jannah: Home at Last
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The Four Rivers of Jannah | Episode 10
Time and time again, Allah mentions Jannah in the Qur’an as “gardens beneath which rivers flow.” But what are these rivers of Paradise like? Flowing water on earth has a calming effect like no other, but the springs and streams of Jannah go beyond soothing your soul; beautified by rubies, pearls, and musk, they are full of meaning and the most beautiful sources of purification, drink, and recreation.
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DISCLAIMER: All depictions of Jannah are purely conceptual and only vocals were used in the making of the soundtrack.
Transcript
This transcript was auto-generated using AI and may contain misspellings. So now under the trees, you have the rivers and flowing water has a calming effect like no other. And in fact, some scientists call this the blue mind effect, that it's both psychological and biological, that we become more relaxed when we see or hear running water. And the beauty of how Allah speaks about Jannah in the Qur'an is that Allah rarely mentions the gardens, if He ever does at all, without saying something to the effect of تَجَرِي مِن تَحْتِهَا الْأَنْهَارِ gardens beneath which rivers flow. Firstly, where did they flow from? The Prophet ﷺ said, from the roots of صِدْرَةَ الْمُنْتَهَى flow two visible rivers and two hidden rivers. نَهْرَانِ بَاطِنَان وَنَهْرَانِ ظَاهِرَان So two of them we can see, two of them we can't see. And he asked Jibril ﷺ, what are these rivers? And he said, the hidden rivers, which are the ones that are exclusive to paradise are سَيْحَانْ And جَيْحَانْ And the visible rivers are the Nile and the Euphrates. Then the Prophet ﷺ continues to walk in paradise and he says, I saw another stream. The banks of that stream were the domes of hollow pearls. And then I put my hand in the flowing water and it was good smelling musk. And I asked Jibril ﷺ, who is this for? And he said, this is your kawthar that Allah ﷻ has given to you. So that's to the Prophet ﷺ. Now for us, what do we experience of these Jannah rivers now? And what does it even mean when we say rivers from Jannah? Well, in the same way that we say that we originated in paradise as human beings, but are in different form now, the origin of the Nile and the Euphrates is in Jannah. But that doesn't mean that they're physically connected now, just like we're
not physically connected now. And it's like when the Prophet ﷺ says that ajwa dates are from Jannah. That doesn't mean that we literally plucked them from Jannah, but there's a resemblance and an origin in Jannah. And some said that there is another benefit and that these rivers are heavenly because they serve prophets. And if you think about how many prophets were held and supported in the Nile and the Euphrates. So the Nile is the river that held Musa ﷺ. And the Euphrates is situated between all of the prophets of Bani Israel. It runs between Africa, Asham and Iraq. So how many prophets drank from this river? How many bathed in this river? And how many even probably traveled upon this river? And as for al-kawthar, what the Prophet ﷺ put his hand in, this is the special fountain that Allah ﷻ has guaranteed to the Prophet ﷺ as comfort and glad tidings when his enemies claimed that he was cut off. And subhanAllah, there's something very beautiful here that many of the ayat where Allah ﷻ talks about rivers and springs for the believers, they come after ayat that talk about our hardship. As if to say that just like how Allah ﷻ gave the Prophet ﷺ kawthar when his enemies claimed he was cut off, if your enemies cut you off here, your flowing rivers of Jannah, O believers, are just extended by that. So before we enter into Jannah on the Day of Judgment, inshaAllah, we're already surrounding what? We're already surrounding the hell outside of paradise. And the hell flows from inside of paradise to the believers that are waiting outside its gates. May Allah ﷻ allow us to arrive and find the Prophet ﷺ waiting for us at that hell with that drink. Allahumma ameen. But now in Jannah, you get to actually drink from kawthar at the source. And the Prophet ﷺ said, kawthar is a stream in paradise, the banks of which are gold and it flows upon pearl and ruby.
He said, its base is musk and its water is sweeter than honey and whiter than snow. So subhanAllah, what you experience of the kawthar on the outside of the gates is even better when you get inside the gates. This too is true for the shuhada. They're drinking from some of the river banks right now outside of the gates of Jannah. But once they fully enter inside, it's even more beautiful. Now you'll notice there's this common theme of rivers that start in paradise and then they flow outside of paradise. And then in Jannah as well, you have rivers that flow throughout. And every time they're described in the Qur'an and the Sunnah, the closer you get to the source, the better it becomes. So essentially as Ibn al-Qayyim, he says that all rivers in paradise start with a large body of water and then a waterfall. And the Prophet ﷺ said, when you ask Allah, ask him for al-firdaws because it is the best of paradise, the highest of it. And he said above it is the throne of the most merciful. And from the arsh, from the throne, all of the rivers of paradise flow. So just like the light comes from there, the water comes from there as well. Rasulullah ﷺ said specifically that in Jannah, there is a sea of water and then there is a sea of honey, like a large body of honey. And then there is a large body of milk and then a large body of wine. And then from those large bodies of water, honey, milk, and wine, the rivers split off afterwards and then they go into many streams so that everyone in Jannah can enjoy their portion. And how do they reach you? They flow under dunes of musk. So you see them coming out under dunes of musk through your gardens and into your home and you can drink from it and enjoy it in any way. And then Allah breaks them down into two more categories. You have those that flow, which are the anhar, the rivers. And then you have the ayun, which are the springs. And the springs continue to
burst in one place. So let's break them down inshaAllah. Let's start with the anhar. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says, مَثَلُ الْجَنَّةِ الَّتِي وُعِدَ الْمُتَّقُونَ فِيهَا أَنْهَارٌ مِّنْ مَاءٍ غَيْرِ آسٍ وَأَنْهَارٌ مِّنْ لَبْنٍ لَمْ يَتَغَيِّرُ طَعْمُ وَأَنْهَارٌ مِّنْ خَمْرٍ لَذَّةٍ لِّلشَّارِبِينَ وَأَنْهَارٌ مِّنْ عَسَلٍ مُصَفَّةٍ Allah says that the description of the garden that He has promised to the believers is that in it are rivers of fresh water, rivers of milk that never expire, rivers of wine that are delicious to drink, and rivers of pure honey. So these rivers in Jannah, you don't just admire them but you can drink from all of them as you please. And Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala mentions four categories of rivers, water, milk, wine, and honey. And then Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala mentions how He removed from them anything that would make them unpleasant in this world. So if you think about water, the detriment of water is that water can change its taste if it mixes in with other things or if it sits in one place for a long time. If you think about milk, milk of course can spoil and become sour and undrinkable. And then if you think about wine, well Ibn Abbas radiAllahu anhu ma'asad, what does wine give you in this world? It gives you drunkenness, it gives you a headache, it makes you vomit, and it makes you urinate. But when Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala mentions the wine of paradise, He's purified it of all of those things. And then the corruption of honey is impurity in this world. But here in Jannah, everything stays fully pure in those rivers. And subhanAllah, you might want, you know, something else from those rivers. Maybe you want a chocolate river, maybe you want a kool-aid river, whatever it is, the point is that in Jannah, the rivers are for drinking and admiring and they flow without any type of limit and they are removed from anything that would spoil their perfect taste or give them any type of negative
effect. Then Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala mentions the springs, that in shade and springs. And Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says in Surah Ar-Rahman, there are springs that are gushing endlessly, and then there are springs with which the water remains in place. So the types of bodies of water are different throughout paradise, all for your joy. And Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala names some of these springs in the Quran. So Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says, that verily the pious shall drink a cup mixed with water from a spring in paradise called Kafura, camper. This is a spring where from the servants of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala will drink, causing it to gush forth abundantly. So that's one Kafura, which is a spring in paradise that the scholars say flavors the drinks. Then Allah mentions, and then they're given to drink a cup of wine that is mixed with Zanjabeel, ginger. And he said that is called Salsabeel. So this spring again is a spring of wine, but this spring is wine mixed with ginger. Then Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala mentions the spring of Tasneem. And this is the one that is for the closest to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala. He says, that in there, there will be wine mixed with Tasneem, a spring that is for those who are that are nearest to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala to drink from. So many of the scholars, they said that everyone in Jannah has flavoring from the spring of Tasneem, but the Muqarrabun who are the closest to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, they get to drink it pure. And the Abrar being the pious of
the next degree, they have it mixed in with their drinks, but no one feels deprived at any point. Just those that are closer to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala recognize that they have an added gift. And one of the things that the scholars mention is that every home doesn't just have a faucet with clean water. You don't have sinks in your homes in Jannah, but every home in Jannah has rivers that flow through it, subhanAllah, in your home, in your gardens and wherever it may be. And so every person in Jannah has access to its water and its bodies of whatever it is in terms of rivers and springs. And you think about water inequality in this dunya, despite its abundance and all that it does to cause harm to people. And in Jannah, it's everywhere, every home, every garden. Now subhanAllah, if you could see the pictures of that Jannah right now, like I want you to imagine if you could go to a booking site and you could see the pictures of that Jannah and then you could taste its water right now. How much would you crave Jannah? And there's one incredible narration that Anas radiAllahu anhu says that this woman came to the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam and she said, Ya Rasulullah, I had this really strange dream. She said, Ya Rasulullah, I saw myself in a dream entering into Jannah. And then I heard this noise in Jannah, like some sort of commotion. And it was that the gate of Jannah had opened. So she says, I went and I saw these people coming in and it was this person and this person and this person. And she named 12 of the sahaba of the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam. And she said, they were brought forth and they had clothes of the finest silk, but their wounds were open and they were running forth with blood. And an angel comes and says, take them to the river of Al-Baydah or Al-Baydah. And they're dipped in the special river and they come out with their faces shining like full moons. And then they sit and they're served with a plate of gold. And in those plates of gold, you have dates
and they ate from those dates as much as they wanted. And then I went and I joined them and I started to eat with them and she said, I woke up. So subhanAllah, the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam is listening to her and little did she know that the 12 people she saw in her dream dipped into the special river in paradise and eating from its fruits were 12 companions that the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam sent on an expedition that very same day. And so she finishes narrating her dream and she leaves. And right when she leaves, a messenger arrives and says to the Prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam, so-and-so has been killed, so-and-so has been killed, so-and-so has been killed until he named the exact same 12 people that the woman saw in her dream. And Rasulullah salallahu alayhi wa sallam sent back for the woman and told her to relate her dream to everyone else and said, everything happened exactly as she said. SubhanAllah, Allah's promise is true and it's precise for those who strive for it. you
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