Praise be to Allah, and may peace and blessings be upon the Messenger of Allah.
It is authentically reported from the Prophet ﷺ that Allah Almighty said:
“I have prepared for My righteous servants what no eye has ever seen, no ear has ever heard, and what has never occurred to the heart of any human being.” He then recited: “No soul knows what has been hidden for them of comfort for the eyes.”
Narrated by al-Bukhari and Muslim.
The view held by the majority of Ahl al-Sunnah is that the Paradise in which Allah caused Adam (peace be upon him) to dwell was the eternal Paradise in heaven. Ibn Kathir stated that this is the opinion of the majority of scholars.
Authentic hadiths establish that the Prophet ﷺ saw Paradise and entered it. Among them is his statement ﷺ:
“I looked into Paradise and saw that most of its inhabitants were the poor...”
He also said, in the hadith concerning the Night Journey and Ascension, that he saw the River Kawthar in Paradise. Likewise, during the eclipse prayer, he saw Paradise and reached out his hand as if to take a bunch of grapes from it.
These texts establish that some human beings have seen Paradise, and that the Prophet ﷺ entered it and saw some of its blessings.
There is no contradiction between the two matters. The meaning of the hadith is that Paradise contains blessings and things that Allah has prepared for His servants which no eye has ever seen, no ear has ever heard, and which have never occurred to the heart of any human being.
As for what Adam (peace be upon him) and the Prophet ﷺ saw, it was only part of what exists in Paradise, not all of its blessings.
Thus, the statement “what no eye has seen” does not mean that absolutely everything in Paradise has never been seen by any eye whatsoever. Rather, it means that Paradise contains hidden and reserved blessings that no one has ever seen, while Allah has shown some of its other blessings to some of His servants.
The scholars have also mentioned that the expression “balh” in the hadith may carry the meaning of “other than” or “leave aside,” meaning that what Allah has shown His servants of the blessings of Paradise is one thing, while what He has concealed from them is greater and more magnificent.
This is supported by the hadith of al-Mughirah ibn Shu‘bah (may Allah be pleased with him), in which it is stated that the highest-ranking people in Paradise are those whose honor Allah says:
“I planted their honor with My own hand and sealed it, so no eye has seen it, no ear has heard it, and it has never occurred to the heart of a human being.”
Narrated by Muslim.
Therefore, Adam’s entry into Paradise and the Prophet’s ﷺ seeing it do not contradict the hadith. They saw some of what Paradise contains, while some of its blessings remain concealed by Allah from His creation—especially the honor and bliss He has prepared for its inhabitants, which no eye has seen and no ear has heard.
And Allah knows best.