For example, a person collects together in his garden samples of the flower species dispersed throughout the country, making it a miniature specimen of it; and a shopkeeper collects samples of all his wares in a list; and a man makes for himself a garment and everything necessary for his house from samples of all the species of creatures in the world, which he governs, has disposal over, and with which he is connected.
Similarly, a person whose abode is Paradise – especially if he used all his senses and non-physical faculties in worship and has gained the right to experience the pleasures of Paradise – will himself and his houris be clothed by divine mercy in a sort of garment that will show every one of all the varieties of the wonders of Paradise, so as to gratify all his senses, please all his members, and delight all his subtle faculties.
Evidence that those numerous garments will not all be of the same kind or sort is the Hadith: “The houris will be dressed in seventy garments, yet the marrow in their leg bones will still be visible.”1 That is to say, from the top garment to the innermost one, there will be degrees gratifying and delighting all the senses and members with different subtle wonders in different ways.
As for the people of Hell, since they committed sins in this world with their eyes, their ears, their hearts, their hands, and their minds, and so on, it does not seem contrary to wisdom and justice that in Hell they will be made to wear a garment made up of various pieces that will be a small Hell, and will cause them torment and pain in accordance with their sins.
FIFTH POINT
You ask if in that period between prophets the forefathers of the God’s Noble Messenger (Upon whom be blessings and peace) belonged to a religion and were religious.
T h e A n s w e r : There are narrations stating that they were religious, adhering to the vestiges of the religion of Abraham (Upon whom be peace),2 which, under the veils of heedlessness and spiritual darkness, persisted in certain special people. Certainly, the persons who formed the luminous chain stretching from Abraham (Upon whom be peace) and concluding in the Most Noble Messsenger (Upon whom be blessings and peace) were not indifferent towards the light of the true religion and were not defeated by the darkness of unbelief. But in accordance with the verse,
Bukhari, Bad’ al-Khalq, 8; Tirmidhi, Qiyama, 60; Janna, 5; Darimi, Riqaq, 108; Musnad, ii, 345; iii, 16.
Nabhani, Hujjat Allah ‘ala’l-‘Alamin, 414.