So if the matter is thus, in that its rivers flow without trenches, then there is no doubt that what is intended by "gardens" is the trees of the gardens, their plantings, and their fruits, rather than their ground, since its rivers flow above its ground and underneath its plantings and trees, according to what Masrūq mentioned. And that is more fitting for the description of Paradise than for its rivers to be flowing beneath its ground.
And Allah, exalted be His praise, through this verse, merely encouraged His servants toward faith and urged them to worship Him by informing them of what He has prepared for the people of obedience to Him and faith in Him with Him, just as He warned them in the verse before it by informing them of what He prepared—for the people of disbelief in Him who make other deities and equals alongside Him—of His punishment for associating others with Him, and exposing themselves to His penalty by committing disobedience to Him and abandoning obedience to Him (1).
The discourse on the interpretation of His statement, exalted be His praise: {Whenever they are provided with a provision of fruit therefrom, they say, "This is what we were provided with before," and they are brought it in resemblance.}
Abū Jaʿfar said: He, exalted be His mention, means by His statement, "Whenever they are provided therefrom": from the gardens; and the pronoun refers back to the gardens, but what is meant is their trees, as if He said: Whenever they are provided—from the trees of the gardens that Allah prepared for those who believed and worked righteous deeds in His gardens—with a fruit from among its fruits as a provision, they say:
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