Akhirah Words in the Quran: Jannah, Jahannam & the Last Day

The Quran talks about the Hereafter constantly, and it uses a fairly small set of words to do it. Ākhira, "the Hereafter", appears 155 times. Janna, the Garden of Paradise, 147 times. Nār, the Fire, 145 times, and Jahannam 77 times. Learn around thirty words, and the verses about death, the Day of Judgment, Jannah and Jahannam become recognisable while you listen.

Below they are arranged in the order the Quran itself describes: from death, to the Hour, to the reckoning, to the two final homes.

This world and the Hereafter: dunya and akhirah

The two words often come as a pair. Surah Al-Aʿla puts them side by side:

Stage 1: Death

Mawt is the same word as Urdu maut. One short sentence of the Quran says it all:

Stage 2: The Hour and the Day of Resurrection

Names of the Day of Judgment in the Quran

The Quran gives that Day several names, and each one shows a different side of it:

• Yawm al-qiyāma, the Day of Resurrection, when people stand up again. Qiyāma comes from the same root as qāma, "he stood up".
• Yawm ad-dīn, the Day of Judgment or Recompense, which you say in every rakʿah in Surah Al-Fatiha (see our Surah Fatiha meaning).
• As-sāʿa, the Hour. "The hour drew nigh" (54:1).
• Yawm al-ḥisāb, the Day of Reckoning (38:53).

Stage 3: The reckoning and the reward

Nothing is lost on that Day. Every soul gets back exactly what it did:

Liqāʾ, "meeting", is a quietly powerful word: the Quran speaks of the "meeting with Allah" (29:5). And rājiʿūn, "returning", in innā lillāhi wa innā ilayhi rājiʿūn comes from the same idea of going back to Him. Our guide to Inna lillahi wa inna ilayhi rajiun explains that verse word by word.

Jannah meaning in the Quran: words for Paradise

Janna literally means a garden, a place thick with trees. The Quran uses it for Paradise again and again, and one of the most beautiful invitations in the Quran uses it:

Khālid, "abiding forever", is the word that tells you this home does not end:

Jahannam and Nar: words for Hell

The Quran uses several names for the Fire. Nār is the plain word, "fire". Jahannam is its proper name. Jaḥīm and saʿīr describe its blazing heat. You will find jaḥīm in Surah At-Takathur, "For ye will behold hell-fire" (102:6); our Surah Takasur meaning goes through that surah word by word.

The words about punishment are many, but notice how often the Quran pairs warning with mercy. The same verse that says Allah is "severe in punishment" continues "but that Allah (also) is Forgiving, Merciful" (5:98). Our page on Allah's names in the Quran looks at ghafūr and raḥīm in detail.

How to use these words in your own recitation

• Start with the pairs: dunyā / ākhira, janna / nār, mawt / ḥayāh. Opposites are easy to remember together.
• Listen in the last juz. Surahs like Al-Qariʿah, At-Takathur and Al-Aʿla are full of these words and short enough to follow.
• Let the words work on you. When you catch yawm al-qiyāma or khālidīn while praying, pause on it for a second. That is exactly what these verses were revealed for.

Every word on this page is in our book 600 Words of the Quran, most of them in its two lessons on the Hereafter, each with a real verse and meanings in English and Roman Urdu. You can look through the lessons on the book page.