A Person’s Heaven Is Generated Within Him — Essence of Islam Vol. 2

14 Sep, 2026 Essence of Islam 0

Essence of Islam Book Cover by Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (AS)

Introduction

In this discourse from Essence of Islam (Volume 2), Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (AS), the Promised Messiah and Mahdi, expounds upon A Person’s Heaven Is Generated Within Him, presenting profound spiritual insights and scriptural verities.

Book Series: Essence of Islam (Volume 2)
Author: Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad of Qadian (AS)
Section: Part 17: Heaven and Hell
Navigation: Book Table of Contents | « Previous: Nature of the Blessings of Paradise | Next: The Nature of the Bounties of Heaven »

Nature of the Blessings of Paradise In the same way, the source of the comfort of heaven are a person’s own actions. If he does not depart from the religion of nature and does not move away from the centre and, as a servant, he lies at the threshold of God and partakes of the lights of Godhead, then he is like the healthy limb which has not moved from its position and is performing the function for which God has created it and he suffers no pain and all is comfort. In the Holy Qur’an, He says:

وَبَشِّرِ ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُواْ وَعَمِلُواْ ٱلصَّـٰلِحَٰتِ أَنَّ لَهُمۡ جَنَّـٰتٖ تَجۡرِي مِن تَحۡتِهَا ٱلۡأَنۡهَٰرُ ۖ كُلَّمَا رُزِقُواْ مِنۡهَا مِن ثَمَرَةٖ رِّزۡقٗا قَالُواْ هَٰذَا ٱلَّذِي رُزِقۡنَا مِن قَبۡلُ ۖ وَأُتُواْ بِهِۦ مُتَشَٰبِهٗا ۖ وَلَهُمۡ فِيهَآ أَزۡوَٰجٞ مُّطَهَّرَةٞ ۖ وَهُمۡ فِيهَا خَٰلِدُونَ

“And give glad tidings to those who believe and do good works, that for them are Gardens beneath which flow streams. Whenever they are given a portion of fruit therefrom, they will say: ‘This is what was given us before,’ and gifts mutually resembling shall be brought to them. And they will have therein mates perfectly pure, and therein will they abide.” (Surah Al-Baqarah, 2:26)

Convey to those who believe and act righteously the good news that for them are gardens beneath which rivers flow. In this verse God Almighty has called faith a garden and righteous actions streams of water. This is the relationship between righteous actions and faith. As no garden can flourish and bring forth fruit without water, in the same way, no faith is helpful which is not accompanied by righteous action. So what is heaven? It is the embodiment of faith and righteous action. Like hell paradise too is nothing external. Indeed, a person’s heaven is born within him. Remember! The blessings that are bestowed there are nothing but the pious which is shaped in the world. True faith resembles a plant and righteous actions are like streams which irrigate that plant and maintain its greenness and glory. In this world they are perceived as if in a dream, but in the other world they will be felt and observed as realities. That is why it is said that when the dwellers of heaven are bestowed these bounties, they will say: 218

This does not mean that we will be bestowed in heaven the milk, or honey, or grapes, or pomegranates, etc., that we consume here. They will be entirely different except in name. They are described physically but we are informed that they illumine the soul and create understanding of God. Their source is the soul and righteousness. It does not mean that in this world what we partake of milk, honey, grapes, pomegranates, etc., will also be provided in the hereafter. Not at all. Those things in their kind and condition will be totally different except those that have common names. Although all these blessings are exemplified in concrete terms, it has been pointed out at the same time that all these blessings illumine the soul and lead to the knowledge of Divine. Their source is soul and truth. ‘What was given to us before’, does not mean that they are material bounties of this world. No, absolutely not. What God means to say in this verse is that the believers who act righteously make with their own hands a heaven the fruit of which they will enjoy in the other world also. As they will have tasted that fruit spiritually in this world, they will recognize it in the other world and will exclaim: ‘These appear to be the same fruits and spiritual exaltations that we had enjoyed in the world’. In 218 ‘This is what was given us before, and gifts mutually resembling shall be brought to them.’—Al-Baqarah, 2:26 [Publisher]
[Malfuzat, vol. III, pp. 25-30]
[Essence of Islam, Vol. 2, p. 442]

Torment is something negative in nature. Absence of comfort is torment. Salvation is something positive in nature; that is, the recovery of comfort and prosperity is salvation. As darkness means absence of light, suffering means absence of well-being. Illness is the name of the condition when the body does not function properly and health is the name of the condition when all natural functions revert to normal. When the spiritual condition of a person moves away from the normal, this disturbance is called torment. When a limb like a hand or foot moves away from its proper position a pain is felt and the limb becomes unable to perform its allotted function and if it is neglected it gradually becomes useless or becomes infected and falls away. Very often there is apprehension of its neighbouring limbs being affected also. The pain that this limb generates does not come from outside but results naturally from its diseased condition. The same is the case with spiritual torment. When a person departs from the religion of nature and loses steadfastness, spiritual torment begins, though an ignorant, who is 219

Chastisement of God is a torment inflicted by God. Its first flame rises from the heart of man himself. This means that the root of the torment is in the heart of man and that the impure thoughts of the heart are the fuel of this hell. As the seed of the torment is the foulness of one’s being which becomes personified as torment, it follows that that which removes this torment is righteousness and purity.
[Kitab-ul-Bariyyah, Ruhani Khaza’in, vol. 13, pp. 81-82]
[Essence of Islam, Vol. 2, p. 444]

The roots of torment are the mistaken beliefs and wrong actions of a person. They will be personified by the wrath of God in the form of fire. As striking a stone hard

220

What is hell? It is the fire of Allah’s wrath, which sets the hearts ablaze. That is, the hearts in which the embers of misconduct and false beliefs are still smouldering will feed the flames of their own fire with the fire of the Divine wrath and the two fires jointly reduce them to ashes just as lightening reduces a person to ashes.
[Majmu‘a Ishtiharat, vol. II, pp. 189-190]
[Essence of Islam, Vol. 2, p. 445]

QUESTION:221 Let Mirza Sahib recall his own belief, according to which after death a person who attains salvation will dwell in a heavenly mansion where God has planted a garden and where handsome women are provided and streams of wine, etc., are running. In short, even after salvation, all worldly provisions will be present and nothing more. Even that which is prohibited here, like wine and multiplicity of women, will be provided there. This is not true. Those who attain salvation shall pass their time happily and independently.

221 This extract is from the debate held in 1886 between the Hadrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad (the Promised Messiah), and Lala Murlidhar, an Arya Samajist. [Publisher]
[Essence of Islam, Vol. 2]
[Essence of Islam, Vol. 2, p. 446]

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Introduction