Tafsir of Al-Kahf 18:107

(Indeed, those who have believed...) This is an exposition—by way of promise—of the ultimate fate of those who were characterized by the opposites of what the disbelievers were characterized by, following the exposition of what is in store for the latter by way of threat. That is: those who believed in the signs of their Lord and in meeting Him—Exalted is He—(and did righteous deeds) from among [various] actions.

(There were for them...) This refers to what preceded in the decree of Allah Almighty and His promise; the use of the past tense is in view of what has been mentioned. There is in this—according to what the Shaykh al-Islam has said—an indication that the effect of [His] mercy reaches them according to the requirements of the eternal compassion, contrary to what was mentioned previously regarding the making of Hell a nuzul (lodging/provision) for the disbelievers, for that is by virtue of what occurred from their own evil choice. It has also been said: It is permissible that what they were promised is treated as a past event because of its certainty, so kāna (was) was used to signal that. He did not say "We have prepared for them" (a‘dadnā lahum), as was said previously, to indicate that the matter of the Gardens is almost never finished; rather, what is within them is always increasing. For the "preparation" and "readiness" of a thing implies the completion and perfection of its affair. It has come in the narrations that for every tasbih (glorification of Allah) the believer utters, a tree is planted for him in Paradise. It is also said that expressing it as mentioned [with kāna] is more expressive of the certainty of the matter than the expression of "preparation." Do you not see that a house may be prepared for a person, yet he does not dwell in it? Nor is the matter devoid of subtlety, so understand.

(Gardens of Firdaws) Ibn al-Mundhir and Ibn Abi Hatim narrated from Mujahid that al-Firdaws is the garden in the Roman language. Ibn Abi Hatim narrated from al-Suddi that it is the vineyard in the Nabataean language, and its origin is firdasa. Ibn Abi Shaybah and others narrated from Abdullah ibn al-Harith that Ibn Abbas asked Ka’b about the Firdaws, and he replied: "The garden of grapevines in Syriac." Ikrimah said: "It is the Garden in Abyssinian." Al-Qaffal said: "It is the garden dense with trees." Al-Zajjaj related that it is the valleys that sprout various types of plants. Al-Mubarrad said: "It is—according to what I have heard from the Arabs—the dense trees, and the grapevines prevail over it." Al-Farra’ asserted that it is also Arabic, and its meaning is the garden in which there are grapevines, and it is a word that can be used as both masculine and feminine. Some claimed it was not heard in the speech of the Arabs except in the poem of Hassan: And indeed the reward of God for every monotheist is gardens of Firdaws in which he shall abide forever. This is incorrect, for Umayyah ibn Abi al-Salt has said: Their dwellings were at that time apparent; in it were the paradises (al-faradis), then the garlic and the onions. It also appeared in the poetry of Jarir in verses where he praises Khalid ibn Abdullah al-Qasri, where he said: And we hope to accompany a group who will be the first to arrive in Firdaws. Among what the people of Mecca heard before Sa’d embraced Islam was the saying of a caller: Answer the caller to guidance, and wish from Allah in Firdaws the desire of a gnostic. The truth is that its mention in the poetry of the Muslims is frequent, and in the poetry of the Jahiliyyah (pre-Islamic era) it is rare.

Al-Bukhari, Muslim, and Ibn Abi Hatim narrated from Abu Hurayrah that the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said: "If you ask Allah Almighty, ask Him for the Firdaws, for it is the center of Paradise and the highest part of Paradise; above it is the Throne of the Most Merciful, and from it gush the rivers of Paradise." From Abu Ubaydah ibn al-Jarrah, it is reported as a marfu’ (elevated) hadith: "Paradise has one hundred degrees; between every two degrees is the distance between the heaven and the earth, and the Firdaws is the highest of Paradise, so if you ask Allah Almighty, ask Him for the Firdaws." It is reported from Ka’b that there is nothing in Paradise higher than the garden of Firdaws, and in it are those who enjoin good and forbid evil. It is authentically established that the people of Firdaws hear the creaking of the Throne. Ibn Abi Hatim narrated from Abu Musa al-Ash’ari as a marfu’ hadith: "Firdaws is the private chamber of the Most Merciful." All of this does not negate that Firdaws in the language means a garden, as some have wrongly imagined, for there is no impediment to the highest part of Paradise being a garden. However, because it is of extreme vastness, every piece of it is called a "garden," thus it is said "Gardens of Firdaws." So it is said. This is problematized by the fact that the verse then implies that all believers are in the Firdaws, which comprises gardens, and this is not correct if Firdaws is the highest of degrees, for there is no doubt in the variance of their ranks. Furthermore, that the intended meaning of "those who have believed and did righteous deeds" is a specific group of the general believers—while being in contrast to the disbelievers—is not a sound argument.

Abu Hayyan said: "The apparent meaning of Jannat al-Firdaws is gardens around the Firdaws; that is why the Gardens are attributed to the Firdaws." You know that this does not quench the thirst, for the verse would then imply that all believers are in gardens around the Firdaws, and it is known that some of them are in the Firdaws. It is said: The matter is as Abu Hayyan mentioned, except that one must accept istikhdam (the use of a word to refer to a part of its meaning and then a different meaning for the same word later) in the verse, such that the absolute "Gardens" is intended thereafter; in this, despite being contrary to the apparent meaning, there is what is not hidden.

It is also said that the intended meaning of "Gardens of Firdaws" is all the gardens, and the attribution to Firdaws—which is the highest of them—is in consideration of its comprising them; this connection is sufficient for the attribution. Perhaps you may choose that Firdaws in the narrations has one meaning and in the verse another, and you may choose from its meanings one in which the attribution is not forced, such as "dense trees" and the like. The apparent meaning of the verse of Hassan and the verse of Umayyah are witnesses that Firdaws has a meaning other than what came in the narrations, so ponder this.

Know also that a problem has been raised regarding the command for the seeker to ask for Firdaws for himself while it is the highest part of Paradise, given the hadith of Ahmad from Abu Hurayrah as a marfu’ hadith: "If you pray for me, ask Allah Almighty for the Wasilah, which is the highest degree in Paradise; no one shall attain it except one man, and I hope that I am he." It is answered that there is no impediment to a single degree being divided into levels, some of which are higher than others, and the Wasilah is the expression for the highest levels of Firdaws, which is the highest level of the Gardens. Similar to this is what is said regarding the definition of i’jaz (the miraculous nature of the Quran), so recall that. It is also said that the intended meaning of "degree" in the hadith of the Wasilah is the degree of rank, not the degree of place, unlike the former; thus, there is no problem.

The prepositional phrase (the jar and majrur) is connected to an elided term, functioning as a state (hal) for His saying "a lodging (nuzulan)," or it is an explanation, as in "my effort is for you" (sa’yan laka), and the predicate of kana in both cases is (nuzulan). Or, it is the predicate, and (nuzulan) is a state (hal) of "Gardens." If (nuzulan) is taken to mean "that which is prepared for one who descends/arrives," the meaning is: "The fruits of the Gardens of Firdaws were for them as a lodging." Or, the Gardens themselves are made the lodging, as an exaggeration in honoring. In this is an indication that they—at the time when Allah prepared them for them upon the tongue of the Prophethood by His saying: "I have prepared for My righteous servants what no eye has seen, no ear has heard, and has not crossed the heart of a human"—are as a lodging in relation to hospitality. If it is taken to mean "a dwelling," then the meaning is clear.