The Degrees of Paradise

The degrees of Paradise are ranks in which its people differ by the faith and works they sent ahead; the highest is al-Firdaws, below it the gardens of 'Adn, al-Ma'wa, al-Khuld and al-Na'im. God says «see how We have favoured some of them over others — and the Hereafter is greater in degrees and greater in preferment» ¹.

In Sahih Muslim, from Abu Sa'id al-Khudri, the Prophet ﷺ said: «The people of Paradise will look up at the people of the chambers above them as they look at a brilliant star receding on the horizon, east or west, for the preferment between them.» They asked: are those the dwellings of the prophets that none else reaches? He said: «No — by Him in whose hand is my soul: men who believed in God and gave credence to the messengers» ².