Worldly Garden

“I said to abu Ja’far (a.s.), ‘People say that our Euphrates gushes forth from the Garden (paradise). How can that be the case? It flows from the west and many springs and waters of valleys fall into it.’ The narrator has that abu Ja‘far (a.s.), then said while I was listening, ‘Allah has a garden. Allah has created it in the west. The waters of your Euphrates come from there and to this (garden) the souls (spirits) of believing people travel from their graves every evening. They descend upon its fruits, eat thereof, enjoy, meet others and get to know them. At dawn they move from the garden and remain in the air between earth and the sky, fly back and forth; at sunrise they visit their graves, meet in the air and get to know each other.’ The Imam then said, ‘Allah has a fire in the east. He has created it for the souls (spirits) of the unbelievers. They eat from Zaqqum (the fruit of the infernal tree) and drink from its boiling water all night; at dawn they move to a valley in Yemen called ‘Barahut’, which is hotter than the fire of the world, where they meet and get to know each other. In the evening they return to the fire. They remain in this condition until the Day of Judgment.’ The narrator has said that I then asked, ‘May Allah keep you well, in what condition do the people remain who believe in one Creator, and who seek nearness (to Allah) through the prophet-hood of Muhammad, O Allah grant compensation to Muhammad and his family worthy of their services to Your cause? They are of the Muslims who have sinned and they die. They have no Imam and do not acknowledge your Divine Authority.’ He said, ‘They remain in their pit (graves) and do not come out from there. For those of them who have done good deeds and who have not expressed animosity (toward us), a line is drawn for them to the garden, which Allah has created in the west. Through this the garden happiness comes to their grave until the Day of Judgment when they come before Allah. He then shows them the account of their good and bad deeds and thereafter they are sent to paradise or to the fire. Their case depends on Allah’s Judgment.’ The Imam then said, ‘In the same way He deals with the feeble-minded, the dimwitted ones, children and the children of Muslims who die before maturity. However, for those of the people of Qiblah (people who face Ka’bah during their prayers) who express animosity (toward Ahl al-Bayt) a line is drawn to the fire, which Allah has created in the east, wherefrom heat and flame and smoke and jets of hot water reach them until the Day of Judgment. Thereafter their destination will be to hot water, then to the fire, which will attack them. Then it will be said to them, “To whom, other than Allah, would you invite people? Where is your Imam whom you had chosen other than the Imam whom Allah had made for people?””’

“I asked abu ‘Abd Allah (a.s.), about the garden of Adam (a.s.). He said, ‘It was a garden of the gardens of the world on which the sun and moon rise. Had it been of the gardens of the hereafter, he would have never been expelled there from.’”