The Gardens of Paradise (in An-Naba) حَدَآئِقَ وَأَعْنَابًا

Overview

After the warning of the Day of Decision and the fate of those who denied it, Sūrah An-Naba turns to the reward of the God-conscious: “Indeed, for the righteous is attainment — gardens and grapevines” (78:31–32). In a few measured verses the sūrah names a settled place of success, lush gardens and vineyards, a full cup, and an atmosphere with “no idle talk nor lying” (78:35), before sealing it all as “a recompense from your Lord, a gift” (78:36).

Etymology and meaning

The phrase حَدَآئِقَ وَأَعْنَابًا (ḥadāʾiq wa-aʿnāb) pairs ḥadāʾiq, the plural of ḥadīqa — a walled or enclosed garden, dense with trees — with aʿnāb, grapevines or grape clusters. The verse opens at 78:31 with مَفَازًا (mafāz), a place or state of attainment and triumph, from the root meaning to succeed and to be delivered to safety. At 78:34 the reward includes كَأْسًا دِهَاقًا (kaʾsan dihāq), a cup filled to the brim.

Qur'anic references

• 78:31 — “Indeed, for the righteous is attainment”
• 78:32 — “gardens and grapevines”
• 78:34 — “and a full cup”
• 78:35 — “No idle talk will they hear therein, nor any lying”
• 78:36 — “a recompense from your Lord, a gift [well] accounted”
• 2:25 — “gardens beneath which rivers flow” (the wider Jannah motif)
• 13:35 — “The description of the Garden promised to the righteous”

Significance

The passage is deliberately concrete. Gardens, vines, and a brimming cup are everyday images of abundance, offered not as the whole of Paradise but as a glimpse the listener can grasp. What is named explicitly, though, is as much about peace as plenty: in this place there is “no idle talk nor lying” (78:35) — a freedom from the noise and falsehood of worldly speech.

The framing at 78:36 is the heart of it. The reward is “a recompense from your Lord, a gift” — at once earned as jazāʾ (a fitting recompense) and given as ʿaṭāʾ (a freely bestowed gift). This stands in direct contrast to the recompense of the transgressors set out just before it, so that the same Day yields two opposite ends. It echoes the broader Qur'anic picture of the Garden — “gardens beneath which rivers flow” (2:25) — while keeping to the spare, sign-driven rhythm of An-Naba, where the wonders of creation become the very argument for resurrection and reward.

See also

• Recompense of the Transgressors
• The Day of Decision
• Signs of Creation

References

1. The Qur'an, Sūrah An-Naba 78:31–36; cross-references 2:25, 13:35.