Al-Shajara
Definition
Al-Shajara — the tree — refers to the specific tree in Paradise that Allah forbade Adam and Hawwa from approaching. Its exact species is deliberately left unspecified in the Quran, and Ibn Kathir reviews the various scholarly opinions — wheat, grapes, fig, and others — without endorsing any definitively, noting that the Quran's silence is itself instructive: the identity of the tree is irrelevant; the fact of the command and the test of obedience are everything. The tree represents the principle that a meaningful moral life requires a real prohibition — a boundary that costs something to observe and therefore makes the observation spiritually significant.
As understood in the classical tradition of Ibn Kathir and the scholars of his school.
How the scholars use Al-Shajara.
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"doesn't fade or diminish. This is deception and falsehood, contrary to reality. The intention is that his saying, the tree of eternity, which if you eat from it you become eternal, may be the tree referred to by Imam Ahmed. The Prophet, peace be upon him, said, Indeed in Paradise there is a tree under whose shade a rider could travel for a hundred years without covering it, and it is the tree of eternity. It was also narrated from Ghandar and Hajjaj from Shu'aba, and Abu Dawud al-Tayirisi narrated it in his Musnad from Shu'aba as well. Ghandar said, I said to Shu'aba, Is it the tree of eternity? He said, It is not mentioned as such. This narration was uniquely reported"
— Ibn Kathir, The Story of Adam
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"the remainder of its life. Yet, awakening only comes through remembrance, as heedlessness is a heavy sleep. Remembrance is a tree that bears the fruit of knowledge, and states that determined seekers strive for. One cannot attain the fruits of this tree except through the tree of remembrance. The larger and more firmly rooted the tree becomes, the more abundant its fruit. Remembrance yields all spiritual stations, from awakening to unification, serving as the foundation and core upon which each station is built, just as a wall supports a structure and a ceiling stands upon its walls. If a servant does not awaken, they cannot traverse the paths of the journey."
— Ibn al-Qayyim, The Wholesome Rain of Good Words
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"angry. Come, let us be angry for our king and kill Zakariya. They went out to pursue me to kill me, and the warning reached me, so I fled from them, with Iblis leading them to me. When I feared that I would not escape them, a tree appeared to me and called me, saying, To me, to me. It split open for me, and I entered it. Iblis came and took hold of the edge of my garment, and the tree closed, leaving a piece of my garment outside the tree. The children of Israel came, and Iblis said, Did you not see him? He entered this tree, and this is the edge of his cloak that he entered with his magic. They said, We should burn this"
— Ibn Kathir, The Prophets of Bani Israil
Appears in
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