[Chapter: The Tree of Ṭūbā]

54 - Abū Mūsā Isḥāq b. Mūsā al-Harawī narrated to us: al-Qāsim b. Yazīd al-Jarmī al-Mawṣilī narrated to us: Abū Ilyās narrated to us: Muḥammad b. ʿAlī b. al-Ḥusayn narrated to us, he said: The Messenger of God, peace and blessings of God be upon him, said: "Indeed, in Paradise there is a tree called Ṭūbā. If a rider on a swift horse were made to travel in its shade, he would travel in it for a hundred years. Its leaves and unripe dates are green cloaks, its blossoms are yellow meadows, its branches are fine silk and thick brocade, its fruits are garments, its resin is ginger and honey, its valley bed is red ruby and green emerald, its soil is musk and ambergris, its camphor is yellow, its grass is ripe saffron and aloe-wood blazing without fuel. From its base gush forth Salsabīl, Maʿīn, and Raḥīq. Its shade is a gathering place among the gathering places of the people of Paradise, which they frequent and where they converse together.

While they are one day in its shade conversing, angels will come to them leading noble steeds created from ruby, into which the spirit was breathed, haltered with chains of gold. Their faces are like lamps in radiance, beauty, and splendor. Their hair is red silk and white goat's hair mixed together; onlookers have never seen anything like them in beauty, yet without inspiring dread. They are noble steeds requiring no taming, bearing saddles whose boards are of pearls and rubies, studded with pearls and coral, their plates of red gold, covered with exquisite carpets and purple. They will make those steeds kneel for them, then say to them: 'Indeed, your Lord sends you greetings of peace and invites you to visit Him, so that He may look at you and you may look at Him, that you may speak to Him and He may speak to you, that you may greet Him and He may greet you, and that He may increase you from His bounty and vastness. Indeed, He is the Possessor of vast mercy and great bounty.' So every man among them will mount his riding beast, and then they will set out in an even row; none of them will outpace another in the slightest, nor will the ear of one she-camel outpace the ear of its companion. They will not pass by any tree among the trees of Paradise except that it will present them with its fruit and move out of their path, disliking to break their row or separate a man from his companion.

When they are raised up to the Compeller, Mighty and Majestic, He will unveil for them His Noble Face and manifest Himself to them in His immense majesty, greeting them therein with peace. They will say: 'Our Lord, You are Peace, and from You is peace, and Yours is the right of majesty and honor.' Their Lord will say to them: 'I am Peace, and from Me is peace, and Mine is the right of majesty and honor. So welcome to My servants who preserved My injunction, observed My covenant, feared Me in the unseen, and were always apprehensive of Me in every state.' They will say: 'By Your might, Your majesty, and the loftiness of Your station, we have not esteemed You as You rightfully deserve, nor have we fulfilled every right of Yours, so permit us to prostrate to You.' Their Lord will say to them: 'I have removed from you the burden of worship and have given rest to your bodies. For so long you exhausted your bodies for Me, fatigued your faces for Me, made your mouths thirsty for Me, and kept your stomachs empty for Me. Now you have reached My relief, My mercy, and My honor. So ask Me whatever you wish and make your desires known to Me; I will grant you your wishes. For today I do not reward you in proportion to your deeds, but rather in proportion to My mercy, My bounty, My majesty, the loftiness of My station, and the greatness of My affair.'

They will continue making wishes and receiving gifts and grants until even the one among them who falls shortest will wish for the equivalent of the entire world from the time God, Mighty and Majestic, created it until the day He annihilates it. Their Lord will say to them: 'You have fallen short in your wishes and have been content with less than what you deserve. I have made obligatory for you what you asked and wished for, and I have added for you that which your wishes fell short of. So look at the gifts of your Lord which He has bestowed upon you.' Suddenly, there will be domes in the highest elevation, and chambers built of pearls and coral, their doors of gold, their beds of ruby, their furnishings of fine silk and thick brocade, and their pulpits of light. Light will billow from their doors and courtyards, a light like the rays of the sun, like a brilliant star in the bright day. And suddenly, there will be towering palaces in the highest reaches of ʿIlliyyīn made of ruby, their light shining brightly; were it not that it was subdued, it would snatch away the sight. Whatever of those palaces is of white ruby is furnished with white silk; whatever of them is of red ruby is furnished with red exquisite carpets; whatever of them is of green ruby is furnished with green fine silk; and whatever of them is of yellow ruby is furnished with yellow purple, plated with green emerald, red gold, and white silver. Their foundations and pillars are of ruby, their pinnacles are domes of pearls, and their towers are chambers of coral.

When they depart to what their Lord, Mighty and Majestic, has given them, palfreys of white ruby into which the spirit has been breathed will be brought near for them, flanked by immortal youths. In the hand of each youth is the bridle of a palfrey, and their bits and reins are of silver strung with pearls and rubies. Their saddles are woven couches furnished with fine silk and thick brocade. Those palfreys will set off with them, taking them back and showing them the meadows of Paradise. When they reach their dwellings, they will find all that their Lord bestowed upon them of what they asked and wished for. At the door of every palace of those palaces, there will be four gardens: two gardens with spreading branches, and two gardens dark green, and in them two springs pouring forth, and in them of every fruit two kinds, and houris restrained in pavilions. When they settle into their dwellings and their residence is established, their Lord, Exalted is He, will say to them: 'Have you found what your Lord promised you to be true?' They will say: 'Yes, we are pleased, so be pleased with us.' He will say: 'By My pleasure with you, you have alighted in My abode, looked at My Face, and shaken hands with My angels. So congratulations, congratulations! A gift that is uninterrupted, containing no distress or deprivation.' At that, they will say: '{Praise be to God, who has removed sorrow from us. Indeed, our Lord is Forgiving and Appreciative. He who has settled us in the eternal home out of His bounty; no fatigue will touch us therein, nor will any weariness touch us therein}.'