A Review of the Relationship between the Worldly Earth and the Unworldly Heaven Based on Sūrah Al-Zumar, Verse 74, from the Interpreters’ Perspective

Among the issues raised about resurrection, are the changes in the material world, including the worldly earth, and its relation to heaven. God states in Sūrah Al-Zumar, Verse 74: “has given us (this) land in heritage: We can dwell in the Garden as we will”. Interpreters have mentioned different quotes following this verse, and most of them believe that the meaning of “earth” in the verse, which believers inherit, is an unworldly earth. Some of them regard the use of the term “earth” as a metaphor. Some others, considering the foundations of wisdom, the principle of context and verses similar to the verse above, believe that the worldly earth will not be lost, but will turn into another earth which has been referred to as heaven. In this research, it is sought to investigate and explain interpreters’ viewpoint on this subject through library and descriptive-analytical methods. According to some contemporaries such as Allameh Tabatabaei and Ayatollah Javadi Amoli, there is a kind of unity between the worldly earth and heaven, and heaven is the unworldly state and the celestial form of this same earth. This perspective relies on the contexts of the verses and narrative evidence that appear to be more accurate.