Paradise: Questions & Answers

Moreover, as was proven in The Eleventh Word, it is clearly understood from the course of the universe and from the comprehensive nature of man that the Creator of this universe wills to make known, through the universe, His infinite treasuries of mercy, to make understood the manifestations of His Names, and to make tasted all forms of His bounties. Most certainly, Paradise—the abode of eternal bliss, which serves as the final destination of the flow of this universe, the most magnificent exhibition hall for the products of the workshop of the universe, and the eternal storehouse of the field of this world—will resemble this world to a certain degree. It will preserve all its foundations, both spiritual and bodily.

And that All-Wise Creator and Just Merciful One will undoubtedly reward the bodily senses and organs with pleasures suited to them, in recognition of their duties, in appreciation of their services, and as a reward for the particular forms of worship they have performed. Otherwise, that would be contrary to His wisdom, justice, and mercy, and would in no way be compatible with the beauty of His mercy and the perfection of His justice.

Question: If a body is alive, its parts are continually subject to composition and dissolution, and therefore to decay and mortality. How, then, can it attain eternity in the Hereafter? Moreover, eating and drinking are intended for the continuation of the individual, while the relationship between spouses serves the continuation of the species, and for that reason they are considered necessary. In the Hereafter, however, where eternity is the foundation, there is no need for these things. Why, then, are they among the greatest pleasures of Paradise?

Answer: First, the mortality and perishability of a living body in this world arise from an imbalance between composition and dissolution in its metabolism. From childhood until maturity, composition and growth predominate. After maturity, the process of dissolution increases, the balance is disturbed, and this eventually leads to death.

In the eternal world, however, the particles of the body either remain stable without continual composition and dissolution, or a stable equilibrium prevails between the two processes. Just as in a perpetual circulation, where composition and dissolution remain in perfect balance, the body of a living being is preserved eternally, so that through this balance it may experience true pleasures.

Furthermore, although eating, drinking, and marital relations in this world arise from needs and are fulfilled as a duty, they have been enriched, as an immediate reward for that function, with extremely varied pleasures, by which they surpass other forms of enjoyment. Since eating and marriage are already sources of pleasure in this world, an abode of suffering, it is self-evident that in Paradise, an abode of pleasure and bliss, they will exist in a far more sublime form. They will also include the pleasure arising from the reward for fulfilling the duty related to eating, drinking, and marital relations in this world, while the needs of this world will be transformed in the Hereafter into a pleasant appetite. Thus, they will become a comprehensive and living source of pleasure, suited to Paradise.

As the secret of the verse

وَمَا هٰذِهِ الْحَيٰوةُ الدُّنْيَاۤ اِلاَّ لَهْوٌ وَلَعِبٌ وَاِنَّ الدَّارَ اْلاٰخِرَةَ لَهِىَ الْحَيَوَانُ

reveals, the lifeless and unconscious creatures of this world will possess consciousness and life in Paradise. Just as people in this world understand commands, the trees of the Hereafter will understand commands and respond accordingly; and just as animals in this world obey, the trees of the Hereafter will understand commands and act accordingly. Since even stones and trees will take on such an exalted form in Paradise, it is self-evident that eating, drinking, and marriage—while preserving their bodily reality—will assume a form far higher and more sublime than their state in this world, in proportion to the superiority of Paradise over this world.