35:35
“Who has, out of His Bounty, settled us in a Home that will last: no toil nor sense of weariness shall
touch us therein.”
A ḥadīth narrated by Abū Hurayrah reports that the Prophet Muhammad described a remarkable tree in Paradise whose shade is so vast that a rider traveling beneath it for one hundred years would not reach its far edge. The narration further states that even the space in Paradise equal to the length of a bow is superior to the entire world upon which the sun rises and sets (Maariful Hadith, p. 219).
Exegetical commentary explains that the purpose of this narration is to cultivate a deep longing for Paradise by emphasizing the superiority of its blessings compared with the transient pleasures of worldly life. The description of the tree highlights the immense scale and magnificence of the rewards prepared for believers in the Hereafter. The comparison involving the length of a bow reflects an idiom familiar in early Arabian culture: travelers sometimes marked a place they intended to occupy by leaving an object such as a bow to indicate possession or reservation. Accordingly, the expression “a bow-length of space” symbolizes even the smallest portion of Paradise. The narration therefore conveys that even the least share of Paradise surpasses the value of the entire worldly realm.
References:
Noomani, Maulana Manzur. (2012). Maariful Hadith –
(pg. 219).