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you shall not grow old in Heaven. Be happy always; for you, now, there is neither pain nor sorrow.”

But the greatest boon that will be conferred on the faithful, who also practice righteousness, after they have entered their celestial abode, is that they will see Allah (Subhaanahu Wata’aalaa) in all His Divine Splendor. In the words of the holy Prophet (Peace be upon him) it will be like this:

“When the dwellers of Paradise have entered the home of celestial bliss Allah (Subhaanahu Wata’aalaa) will enquire from them thus: ‘Do you want that I may bestow a favor upon you over and above the blessings you enjoy?’ The people of the Heaven will answer: ‘Our Lord! Thou hast illumined our faces, saved us from Hell and granted us the paradise. (What more can we want)? The veil will then be lifted and they shall see their Lord unhindered. All the endless joys and blessings of the Paradise will fade away before the glorious spectacle of the Almighty.”

In another Tradition it is related that once the Prophet (Peace be upon him) while describing the marvelous pleasures of the Paradise and the extreme agony of the Hell observed:

“On the Day of Judgment a person will be brought who will have lived in greatest pomp and luxury in the world but will be condemned to hell because of his evil deeds. He will be dipped once into the fire of Hell and then taken out of it immediately and asked, “Have you ever known comfort?’ The man will reply, ‘No, our Lord. I swear by Thy name, I have never known what comfort is.’ Afterwards, another person will be brought who will have led a life of rank misery and misfortune on the earth but will be found worthy of Paradise owing to his faithfulness of Allah (Subhaanahu Wata’aalaa) and piety. He will be taken to Heaven and then led out of it immediately and asked, ‘Have you ever known pain or misery?‘No, our Lord!’ he will reply, ‘I swear by Thy name, I have never known what pain or misery is!”

In truth, Allah (Subhaanahu Wata’aalaa) has provided such wonderful joys and comforts in the Paradise that a man who has passed his days in the world in utmost distress will forget all about it as soon as he has had a taste of them. Likewise, the Hell is such an infernal place that a person who has lived all one’s life in the world in rare luxury and happiness will at once feel, on stepping into it, that he had never known what it was to be happy or comfortable.

The severity and dreadfulness of the chastisement of the Hell can be imagined from this one Tradition of the sacred Prophet (Peace be upon him):

“The mildest punishment that will be inflicted on a person in the Hell is that he will be made to wear a pair of sandals made of fire which will be so hot as to set his brain boiling as if something was cooking in a pot on a stove.”

The fare that will be served there has been indicated in the verses of the Quran we have quoted already. Here, also, are two Traditions of the Prophet (Peace be upon him):

“The stinking pus people will be made to drink in Hell is such that if a bucket of it was thrown into the world the whole world would be filled with its infernal stench.”

“If a drop of Zaqqum were to fall on the earth it would be enough to pollute all the articles of food and drink that are found here.”