SENSE OF PLEASURE
A Unique Human Quality

PARADISE is described in great detail in the Quran. The gist of this description is to be found in the verse which says that ‘Paradise will have everything that man would like to have and what will be pleasing to his eyes’.

Of all the living beings created by God, man is unique in having the perception of pleasure. For man, God created Paradise where he could live an eternal life amidst objects specially provided for his pleasure. The sense of pleasure is, indeed, one of the most wonderful gifts of God. And it is only man who has been endowed with this capacity.

Compare him with the robot, designed to perform all the routine tasks a man does—a triumph of modern technology, yet incapable of deriving any pleasure whatsoever from its actions or environment. No machine or an animal, in fact, is capable of enjoyment. It is only the human being who has the ability to enjoy.

Pleasure in the above Quranic verse has been used in the best sense of the word and covers a much wider range of meaning than trivial amusement. Man seeks to derive pleasure not only from the material aspect of life but also from every other aspect such as spiritual. When a man does a good job, when he finds a good solution to a problem, the joy he experiences is immense. But take the computer. It will produce correct answers to thousands of questions but will not know how to feel happy about this.

In Paradise, everything will be of unsurpassable perfection, just as the man who enters Paradise will be metamorphosed into a perfect being. Every activity whether it is talking, touching, seeing, hearing or walking about will become a source of unlimited pleasure.