(117) It is related by Abu Sa’eed that the Apostle of God said:
“[When the dwellers of Paradise will have reached there and its
superlative boons will have been conferred upon them] God will speak
to them, ‘O dwellers of Heaven!’ He will say. ‘Our
Lord’, they will reply, ‘We are here! We are here in Thy
sublime presence, and all that is good belongeth to Thee [i.e., Thou
can grant to anyone what Thou want to grant and withhold from anyone
what Thou want to withhold] !’ He will ask, ‘Are you happy
[i.e., Are you pleased with what you have been given here]?’ The
blessed ones will reply, ‘Why should we not be pleased when Thou
hast granted to us things Thou never had granted to any of Thy creatures.’
God will, then, inquire, ‘May We bestow upon you something which
is even superior to those joys?’ ‘O Lord’, the bondmen
will submit, ‘What is there which is superior to these blessings?’
Upon it, God will say, ‘We bestow upon you Our eternal good pleasure.
Now We shall never be displeased with you’.”
Commentary.-For the Benevolent One to inquire from the bondmen, after
He had granted them Paradise and its matchless comforts, whether they
were happy and contented is an act of unbounded graciousness in itself,
and, with it, the gift of everlasting good pleasure, literally, defies
every expression of gratitude. Were a fraction of happiness the dwellers
of Heaven would experience at that time to be revealed to us in the
present existence the desire for none of the earthly pleasures would
be left in our hearts.