Tafsir of Ibraheem 14:17

"He gulps it down" (yatajara'uhu): Abu al-Baqa’ permitted it to be an adjective describing the "water," a circumstantial qualifier (hal) for it, or an initiation of a new sentence. Abu Hayyan permitted it to be a circumstantial qualifier for the pronoun in "he is given to drink" (yusqa). The interpretation of it being an initiation of a new sentence is more apparent; it is based on an implicit question, as if it were said: "What does he do with it?" It is said: "He gulps it down," meaning he struggles to swallow it time after time due to the intensity of his thirst and the heat that has overcome him.

"And is scarcely able to make it go down his throat" (wa la yakadu yusighuhu): meaning he does not come close to making it go down, let alone actually making it go down. Rather, he chokes on it, and so he drinks it—after much difficulty and struggle—gulp by gulp, whereby his torment is prolonged: at one moment by the heat and the thirst, and at another by drinking it in that state. For "making it go down" (al-sawgh) is the descent of drink down the throat with ease and acceptance. Negating the possibility of this does not imply the negation of everything mentioned. It is said that tafa'ala is the reflexive form of fa'ala; it is said: "He forced him to drink" (jara'ahu), so he "gulped it down" (tajarra'a). It is also said that it corresponds to the simple verb—meaning he drank it—just as one says "he surpassed the thing" (ada al-shay') and "he exceeded it" (ta'addahu). It is also said that "making it go down" (al-isaghah) is the bringing of something into the interior; the meaning being: he does not come close to bringing it into his interior before he drinks it, and then he drinks it—along the lines of what was said regarding His saying: "They slaughtered it, and they were scarcely able to do it" (meaning they did not come close to [doing it] before the slaughter). This was expressed as "making it go down" because that is the conventional term used for drinks.

Ahmad, al-Tirmidhi, al-Nasa’i, al-Hakim (who authenticated it), and others recorded from Abu Umamah, from the Prophet (may the blessings and peace of Allah be upon him), that he said regarding this verse: "It is brought near to him, and he finds it repulsive. When it is brought close to his face, it roasts it, and his scalp falls off. Then, when he drinks it, it cuts his intestines until it comes out from his posterior. Allah the Almighty says: 'And they are given to drink a boiling water that cuts their intestines' (Muhammad: 15). And He, the Exalted, says: 'And if they call for help, they will be helped with water like molten copper that scalds the faces' (al-Kahf: 29)."

"He makes it go down" (yusighuhu) is recited with a damma on the ya', because it is said: "The drink went down" (sagha al-sharabu) and "he [another] made it go down" (asaghahu). This is the standard linguistic form, even if the triliteral form is also reported to be transitive, as mentioned by the linguists. The sentence "he is scarcely able..." and what follows is in the place of a circumstantial qualifier for the subject of "he gulps it down," or its object, or both.

"And death comes to him": meaning its causes, consisting of hardships and types of torment. Thus, the speech is metaphorical or carries an implicit added noun.

"From every place": meaning from every location. The intent is that it surrounds him from all directions, as reported from Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both). Ibrahim al-Taymi said: "From every place in his body, even from the ends of his hair." Similar accounts are reported from Maymun ibn Mihran and Muhammad ibn Ka'b. Applying the word "place" to the limbs is a metaphor. The apparent meaning is that this coming of death is in the Hereafter. Al-Akhfash said: He intended the afflictions that befall the disbeliever in the world; he called them "death" due to their intensity. It is not hidden that this is far-fetched, because the context of the speech is regarding the states of the disbeliever in Hell and what he encounters therein.

"And he is not dead": meaning, while he is not actually dead—as is apparent from the arrival of the causes of death in their most complete form—so that he might find relief from the types of destructive torments that have overwhelmed him.

"And before him": meaning, in front of the one against whom judgment has been passed with what has passed, is "a harsh torment"—he encounters at every moment a torment more severe and more difficult than what was before it. It is said that "before" (wara') here is like what was said previously regarding "in front of him." This sentence is mentioned to dispel the notion of lightness due to habituation, as is the case with worldly punishment. It is also said that the pronoun in "before him" refers to the "torment" understood from the previous speech, not to "every tyrant." This is reported from al-Kalbi. It is said that the intent of this torment is the eternity in the Fire; al-Tabrisi holds this view. al-Fudayl said: "It is the cutting of breath and its imprisonment within the bodies."

This said, it is permitted in al-Kashshaf that this verse—meaning His saying: "And they sought victory"—up to this point is disconnected from the story of the messengers (peace be upon them) and was revealed concerning the people of Mecca. They sought the "victory" which was the rain during their years of famine that were sent upon them due to the prayer of the Messenger of Allah (may the blessings and peace of Allah be upon him). But He, the Exalted, disappointed their hope and did not give them rain, and promised them that He would give them to drink in Hell—instead of their watering—the pus of the people of the Fire. The "and" (wa) in this case, it is said, is for the initiation of a new sentence. It is also said to be for conjunction, either to His saying: "And woe to the disbelievers from a severe punishment," or to the news of "Those are in deep error," due to their proximity in wording and meaning. The first view is preferred because the other is remote and lacks a correlation to limit "seeking victory" to "seeking rain," for the speech according to that estimation pertains to the people of Mecca in a primary way; for the purpose of recounting the story is that they should take heed.