فَلَا تَعْلَمُ نَفْسٌۭ مَّآ أُخْفِىَ لَهُم مِّن قُرَّةِ أَعْيُنٍۢ جَزَآءًۢ بِمَا كَانُوا۟ يَعْمَلُونَ ﴿١٧﴾
And no soul knows what has been hidden for them of comfort for eyes as reward for what they used to do.
Short answer
Jannah is described as a garden of lasting peace and joy with rivers, fruits, no sorrow, no illness and no death, and above all the pleasure of God and the sight of Him. The Prophet ﷺ said it has what no eye has seen, no ear has heard and no heart has imagined.
The fuller answer
The Quran describes gardens beneath which rivers flow, comfortable homes, silk clothes, and company of the righteous and their families, and says that the highest reward is God's pleasure. Because it is beyond human experience, the descriptions are given in images that people can understand.
The Quran also mentions 'hur', pure companions, for the righteous, and it promises believing men and women alike that they will enter Paradise with their spouses. The popular figure of 72 virgins is not in the Quran: it comes from a single hadith that scholars do not rate as strong. Paradise is open to women and men, and the greatest reward in it is God's pleasure.
From the Quran
وَبَشِّرِ ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوا۟ وَعَمِلُوا۟ ٱلصَّٰلِحَٰتِ أَنَّ لَهُمْ جَنَّٰتٍۢ تَجْرِى مِن تَحْتِهَا ٱلْأَنْهَٰرُ ۖ كُلَّمَا رُزِقُوا۟ مِنْهَا مِن ثَمَرَةٍۢ رِّزْقًۭا ۙ قَالُوا۟ هَٰذَا ٱلَّذِى رُزِقْنَا مِن قَبْلُ ۖ وَأُتُوا۟ بِهِۦ مُتَشَٰبِهًۭا ۖ وَلَهُمْ فِيهَآ أَزْوَٰجٌۭ مُّطَهَّرَةٌۭ ۖ وَهُمْ فِيهَا خَٰلِدُونَ ﴿٢٥﴾
And give good tidings to those who believe and do righteous deeds that they will have gardens [in Paradise] beneath which rivers flow. Whenever they are provided with a provision of fruit therefrom, they will say, "This is what we were provided with before." And it is given to them in likeness. And they will have therein purified spouses, and they will abide therein eternally.
وَعَدَ ٱللَّهُ ٱلْمُؤْمِنِينَ وَٱلْمُؤْمِنَٰتِ جَنَّٰتٍۢ تَجْرِى مِن تَحْتِهَا ٱلْأَنْهَٰرُ خَٰلِدِينَ فِيهَا وَمَسَٰكِنَ طَيِّبَةًۭ فِى جَنَّٰتِ عَدْنٍۢ ۚ وَرِضْوَٰنٌۭ مِّنَ ٱللَّهِ أَكْبَرُ ۚ ذَٰلِكَ هُوَ ٱلْفَوْزُ ٱلْعَظِيمُ ﴿٧٢﴾
Allah has promised the believing men and believing women gardens beneath which rivers flow, wherein they abide eternally, and pleasant dwellings in gardens of perpetual residence; but approval from Allah is greater. It is that which is the great attainment.
ٱدْخُلُوا۟ ٱلْجَنَّةَ أَنتُمْ وَأَزْوَٰجُكُمْ تُحْبَرُونَ ﴿٧٠﴾
Enter Paradise, you and your kinds, delighted."
Please note
This answer follows the mainstream Sunni understanding and is general learning, not a fatwa. Where Muslims differ, the answer says so. Have a question of your own? Write to us.