Trees in Jannah: The Endless Shade and the Trees of Dhikr

On a hot afternoon, there are few things better than a large tree and its shade. The Prophet ﷺ described a tree in Paradise so vast that a rider could travel in its shade for a hundred years and not reach its end. This article looks at the trees in Jannah as the Quran and authentic hadith describe them, and at a short dhikr that, according to a hadith graded authentic by several scholars, plants a palm tree there for you.

The hadith

Abu Hurairah (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates this hadith. Imam Muslim records the same words about the tree in Sahih Muslim 2826a. In al-Bukhari’s narration, the Prophet ﷺ points his listeners to a verse of the Quran, “and shade extended”, as if to say: this is what the verse describes.

The trees of Surah al-Waqi‘ah

The verse the Prophet ﷺ recited comes from a passage in Surah al-Waqi‘ah about “the companions of the right”, the people of Paradise. It opens with two kinds of trees:

The lote tree, the sidr, is a thorny tree in this world. In Paradise its thorns are removed. The second tree is “layered” with fruit. And the shade is extended, the same shade the hadith describes: a rider could travel through it for a hundred years.

Reflection: the hadith measures the tree in years of travel, not in meters, because no measurement we know could hold it. Every description of Paradise works like this. It takes something we know, a tree, a river, a garden, and tells us that the real thing is far beyond it.

Trees you can plant now

The trees above are already in Paradise. A hadith in Jami‘ at-Tirmidhi tells of trees that are planted for a person because of his dhikr:

Jabir ibn ‘Abdullah (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates it. The Encyclopedia of Translated Prophetic Hadiths explains that each time a person says these words, a date palm is planted for him in Paradise, and that the phrase joins glorifying Allah with praising Him. It adds that the date palm is singled out for its many benefits and good fruit (HadeethEnc 4201).

A note on its grading

Scholars differ on this hadith. Imam at-Tirmidhi called it hasan sahih gharib and said it is known only through Abu az-Zubayr from Jabir. Shaykh al-Albani graded it Sahih (Silsilah as-Sahihah 64), and the Encyclopedia of Translated Prophetic Hadiths also grades it Sahih (HadeethEnc 4201). On the other side, Sunnah.com shows Da‘if (Darussalam), and Zubair Ali Zai called its chain weak because Abu az-Zubayr narrated it with “from” (‘an) while being known for tadlis. The gradings are listed on Tohed: Tirmidhi 3464 and Sunnah.com: Tirmidhi 3464. We follow the Sahih grading here and show the difference openly.

A similar narration from Prophet Ibrahim about the “seeds” of Paradise is weak; we explain it in Lessons from Prophet Ibrahim: Plant Your Garden in Jannah. And the closely related phrase SubhanAllahi wa bihamdihi, said 100 times a day, has its own authentic hadith in Sahih al-Bukhari, covered in SubhanAllahi wa Bihamdihi 100 Times.

How to practise it

• Say SubhanAllahil-‘Azim wa bihamdihi in spare moments: while walking, driving or waiting. The hadith sets no number, so say it as often as you can.
• Teach it to your children as “the words that plant a tree in Jannah”.
• When you sit under a tree on a hot day, remember the tree of a hundred years and ask Allah for its shade.
• Read Surah al-Waqi‘ah 56:27–40 and reflect on the description of the companions of the right.

What it takes

The shade in Surah al-Waqi‘ah is for “the companions of the right”. The hadith of the palm tree shows how small a deed can begin a garden, but the garden is reached by a whole life: faith, prayer and good deeds, as described in Deeds That Lead to Jannah. A tree planted with dhikr is a reason to keep going, not a reason to stop.

Questions people ask

Key lessons

• Paradise has a tree whose shade a rider could cross in a hundred years (Bukhari 3252).
• The Quran describes lote trees without thorns, trees layered with fruit and extended shade (56:28–30).
• A short dhikr plants a date palm in Paradise, according to a hadith graded Sahih by al-Albani (Tirmidhi 3464).
• Scholars differ on that hadith’s chain, and we show the difference openly.
• The shade of Jannah is for the companions of the right, reached through faith and good deeds.

Before you close this page, say it once: SubhanAllahil-‘Azim wa bihamdihi. Then say it again on your way home.

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