The short answer
Jannatul Firdaus means the Garden of al-Firdaus; the Quran calls it jannat al-firdaws in Al-Kahf 18:107. The Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him, called al-Firdaus the awsat and a'la of Paradise, which sunnah.com translates as the best and highest part, and told Muslims, when they ask Allah, to ask for it (Sahih al-Bukhari 2790, graded sahih, meaning sound).
What does Jannatul Firdaus mean?
Jannatul Firdaus is the Garden of al-Firdaus. The adapted translation of Al-Kahf 18:107 renders the phrase "Gardens of Paradise", and sunnah.com's English on Sahih al-Bukhari 4462 glosses it as "the Garden of Paradise (i.e. Al-Firdaus)". The Quran's own phrase is jannatu l-firdaws, the gardens of al-Firdaus, in Al-Kahf 18:107. The word al-Firdaus appears here, in the Arabic as the Tanzil text has it:
ٱلْفِرْدَوْسِ
The hadith uses the same Arabic word, in the report of Sahih al-Bukhari 2790 that is quoted below. English spellings vary, and this page writes al-Firdaus throughout.
We have not sourced a dictionary entry for the word, so this page gives no etymology or root for it.
What does the Quran say about al-Firdaus?
The believers who do good works
إِنَّ ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوا۟ وَعَمِلُوا۟ ٱلصَّـٰلِحَـٰتِ كَانَتْ لَهُمْ جَنَّـٰتُ ٱلْفِرْدَوْسِ نُزُلًا خَـٰلِدِينَ فِيهَا لَا يَبْغُونَ عَنْهَا حِوَلًا
Al-Kahf 18:107 says of the believers who do good works: "theirs are the Gardens of Paradise for welcome." Verse 108 adds: "Wherein they will abide, with no desire to be removed from there."
The heirs
Al-Mu'minun 23:10 says of them: "These are the heirs." Verse 11 names what they inherit:
ٱلَّذِينَ يَرِثُونَ ٱلْفِرْدَوْسَ هُمْ فِيهَا خَـٰلِدُونَ
The adapted translation of 23:11 reads, in part, "Who will inherit paradise." The Arabic word in that verse is the same al-Firdaus as in 18:107.
What do the hadith say about al-Firdaus?
A hundred degrees
Abu Hurayrah, may Allah be pleased with him, reported the Prophet's words on Paradise. The report opens with a general line: whoever believes in Allah and His Messenger, prays and fasts Ramadan, it is a right upon Allah to admit him to Paradise, whether he fights in Allah's way or stays in the land where he was born. It then says Paradise has a hundred degrees, prepared for those who strive in Allah's way, and that the distance between two degrees is like the distance between the heaven and the earth.
The report does not say the hundred degrees are for everyone who enters Paradise. It gives them for those who strive.
Ask Allah for al-Firdaus
The same report continues: when you ask Allah, ask Him for al-Firdaus, for it is the awsat and a'la of Paradise.
Sahih al-Bukhari 2790
فَاسْأَلُوهُ الْفِرْدَوْسَ، فَإِنَّهُ أَوْسَطُ الْجَنَّةِ وَأَعْلَى الْجَنَّةِ
fa-s'alūhu l-firdaws, fa-innahu awsaṭu l-jannati wa aʿlā l-jannati
Ask Him for al-Firdaus, for it is the awsat of Paradise and its a'la, its highest part.
1AuthenticSahih al-Bukhari 2790
The English on sunnah.com renders awsat and a'la as "the best and highest part of Paradise". This page keeps the Arabic words.
The narration also carries a line the sub-narrator introduces with "I think" (urahu): above al-Firdaus is the Throne of al-Rahman, and from it the rivers of Paradise burst forth. The narration ends with a clause that Muhammad ibn Fulayh reports from his father, giving the Throne line without "I think". Because it is introduced that way, this page does not report it as a plain saying of the Prophet.
A daughter's words at her father's death
Anas, may Allah be pleased with him, reported the words of the Prophet's daughter, Fatimah, may Allah be pleased with her, when her father died. Among them she said: "O father, whose dwelling is the Garden of al-Firdaus." The report gives these as her words, not the Prophet's.
Sahih al-Bukhari 4462
مَنْ جَنَّةُ الْفِرْدَوْسِ مَأْوَاهُ
man jannatu l-firdawsi ma'wāhu
Whose dwelling is the Garden of al-Firdaus.
2AuthenticSahih al-Bukhari 4462
What do the sources leave unsaid?
The sources quoted here give the Quran's gardens, the abiding, the inheritance, the hundred degrees and the distance between them, and the Throne line with the caveat above. They do not describe what al-Firdaus looks like or what its buildings are like, and they do not say how large it is, and this page gives none of those.
They do not say how many people enter al-Firdaus or who they are, beyond the words quoted. The report tells Muslims to ask Allah for al-Firdaus, but gives no set wording for the request, so this page gives none. For the wider picture of Paradise, see Jannah: what the Quran and hadith describe.
Firdaus appears in a few verses and hadith. The page reports what each one says, and what it does not say, without adding more.
Try it: four questions
Pick an answer; each one explains itself.
1In the translation of Al-Kahf 18:107, what are the believers promised?
Answer: Gardens of Paradise for welcome. The verse gives the Gardens of al-Firdaus, and the adapted translation reads "Gardens of Paradise for welcome". The other options are different verses.
2In which report does the Prophet tell Muslims to ask Allah for al-Firdaus?
Answer: Sahih al-Bukhari 2790. Sahih al-Bukhari 2790, graded sahih, tells Muslims to ask Allah for al-Firdaus. Sahih al-Bukhari 4462 is about the Prophet's death. Source 1
3In Sahih al-Bukhari 4462, who says "O father, whose dwelling is the Garden of al-Firdaus"?
Answer: Fatimah, may Allah be pleased with her. These are Fatimah's words at her father's death. The report gives them as hers, not the Prophet's. Source 2
4Which verse says the heirs inherit al-Firdaus and abide in it?
Answer: Al-Mu'minun 23:11. Al-Mu'minun 23:11, in the adapted translation: "Who will inherit paradise. There they will abide."
Questions people ask
What does Jannatul Firdaus mean?
It means the Garden of al-Firdaus. The Quran calls it jannatu l-firdaws (Al-Kahf 18:107). The Prophet, peace be upon him, called al-Firdaus the awsat and a'la of Paradise (Sahih al-Bukhari 2790, graded sahih, meaning sound).
Is Jannatul Firdaus the highest part of Paradise?
The report calls al-Firdaus the awsat and a'la of Paradise, which sunnah.com translates as the best and highest part (Sahih al-Bukhari 2790, graded sahih, meaning sound). The report does not list or rank the other parts of Paradise.
Can I ask Allah for Jannatul Firdaus?
The report tells Muslims to ask Allah for al-Firdaus (Sahih al-Bukhari 2790, graded sahih, meaning sound). The report gives no set wording for that request, so this page gives none.
Sources
Every claim on this page comes from one of these. Gradings are reported with the scholar's name; we do not grade hadith ourselves.
- 1
Abu Hurayrah reported that the Prophet said Paradise has a hundred degrees that Allah prepared for those who strive in His way (al-mujahidin), the distance between two degrees like that between the heaven and the earth; and to ask Allah for al-Firdaus, the awsat and the highest (a'la) of Paradise. A line introduced by 'I think' (urahu) adds that above it is the Throne of al-Rahman and from it the rivers of Paradise burst forth; Muhammad ibn Fulayh from his father gives 'and above it is the Throne of al-Rahman'.
Sahih al-Bukhari 2790 Book 56, Hadith 8
Authentic: in Sahih al-Bukhari
- 2
Anas reports the Prophet's final illness and death: when he was unconscious his daughter said how distressed her father was, and he told her there would be no more distress for him after that day; after his death she spoke of his place in Paradise, and at his burial she asked Anas whether they were content to throw earth on the Messenger of Allah.
Sahih al-Bukhari 4462 Book 64, Hadith 478
Authentic: in Sahih al-Bukhari
- Q
Quran Arabic and English for Al-Kahf 18:107 and 108 and Al-Mu'minun 23:10 and 11, with the word al-Firdaus from both verses.
Tanzil Project Uthmani text, CC BY 3.0. English: adapted from Marmaduke Pickthall's translation (1930), modernised and checked against modern translations.
Next
- Jannah: what the Quran and hadith describeMeaning explained
- Jahannam: meaning, descriptions and contextMeaning explained
- Surah Ar-Rahman: Arabic, English, themes and the refrainQuran lesson
- The Unseen and the HereafterThe hub
- The gates of Jannah: references and meaningsBelief
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