{ من ورائه جهنم }

(Meaning: in front of him and ahead of him, as Al-Zajjaj, Al-Tabari, Qutrub, and a group have stated. In accordance with this is the saying: "Is there anything ahead of me—if my death is delayed—except the clinging to a staff, leaning upon it with my fingers?" The meaning of it being "ahead of him" is that he is lying in wait for it, standing on its brink, and being sent toward it.

It is also said: The meaning is "behind his life and after it." From this is the saying: "I swore, so I left no doubt for your soul, and there is no refuge for a man beyond God." Ibn al-Anbari inclined toward this. The use of "behind" (wara’) for both this and that is based on it being from the addad (words with opposite meanings) according to Abu Ubaidah and Al-Azhari, for it is among the verbal homonyms according to them.

A group said: It is among the conceptual homonyms, for it is established for a general matter that is true for both the front and the back: that which is hidden from you. It may also be interpreted metaphorically as time; thus it is said: "The matter is behind you," meaning it will come to you in your future.

{ ويسقى } (And he shall be made to drink): It is said to be a conjunction to a suppressed constituent related to { من ورائه }. Most, however, say it is a conjunction to a suppressed constituent that acts as an answer to a questioner, as if it were said: "What will happen then?" It was answered: "He will meet therein what he meets, and he will be given to drink."

{ من ماء } (Of water): A specific kind, not like the ordinary waters.

{ صديد } (Purulent discharge): Mujahid, Qatada, and Al-Dahhak said: It is what flows from the bodies of the people of the Fire. Muhammad bin Ka'b and Al-Rabi' said: It is what flows from the private parts of adulterers and adulteresses. From Ikrimah, it is blood and pus. Al-Zamakhshari parsed it as an explanatory apposition (bayan) for "water," and in its initial vagueness followed by its clarification lies a terror that is not hidden. The permissibility of explanatory apposition for indefinite nouns is the school of the Kufans, Al-Farsi, and others, while the Basrans do not permit it. According to their school, it is a substitute (badal) for "water" if considered a noun, or an adjective (na't) if its derivation from al-sadd (the preventing) is considered—that is, the prevention from drinking—as if that water, due to the intensity of its foulness, prevents one from drinking it.

In Al-Bahr, it is said: It is masdud (prevented) from him—meaning because of its repulsiveness, one is turned away from it. Al-Hufi and Ibn Atiyyah inclined toward it being an adjective, just as you say: "This is a ring of iron." The application of the word "water" to that is not literal; rather, it is applied to it considering that it is its substitute. Some said: It is an adjective involving the omission of a likeness-inducing particle, as you say: "I passed by a man [who is] a lion," the estimation being "like purulent discharge." According to this, the application of "water" to it is literal. In sum, the specification of drinking this water for mention, out of all [the forms of] its punishment, indicates that it is among its most severe types.