Tafsir of Al-Kahf 18:53

"And the criminals saw the Fire" – The noun (al-mujrimun - the criminals) is placed in the position of the pronoun (i.e., instead of saying "they saw") to explicitly state their criminality and to disparage them through that description. The "seeing" is visual. It has been narrated from Abu Sa’id al-Khudri—as recorded by Ahmad, Ibn Jarir, and al-Hakim, who authenticated it—from the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) that the disbeliever sees Hell from a distance of forty years.

"And they realized" – That is, they knew, as recorded by ‘Abd al-Razzaq and a group from Qatadah. This is the apparent state of their affairs after the saying of Allah the Exalted regarding that, their seeking aid from their partners, the failure of those partners to respond to them, and the placement of a barrier between them. It is also said that the "realization" (al-zann) remains in its literal sense (as doubt/conjecture), as they had not yet reached certainty.

"That they were to fall into it" – That is, that they were to be mingled with it and fall inside it, because they had not yet despaired of the mercy of Allah the Exalted before entering it. It is said that when they saw it from afar—as you heard in the hadith—they thought it would snatch them up immediately, for the active participle (muwaqi’uha) is meant for the present tense. Thus, the certainty pertains to the fact of entry, while the doubt pertains to the immediacy of that entry. In the Mushaf of ‘Abdullah, it is written as "mulaquha" (that they would meet it), and similarly recited by al-A’mash and Ibn Ghazwan from Talhah. It has been preferred to consider this a commentary (tafsir) rather than the actual text, due to its deviation from the script of the Uthmanic codex. It is narrated from ‘Alqamah that he recited it as "malaffuha" (that they would be wrapped in it), with a doubled 'fa', from the verb "laffa" (to wrap something).

"And they found no escape from it" – That is, no place to which they could turn away. Abu Kabir al-Hudhali said: "O Zuhayr, is there for Shaybah bin Masraf, or is there no immortality for one who gives and strives?"

Therefore, it is a noun for a place (ism makan). It is also permitted that it be a noun for a time (ism zaman). Likewise, Abu al-Baqa’ permitted—and others followed him—that it be a verbal noun (masdar), meaning: "no turning away." In al-Durr al-Musawwar, it is stated that this is a mistake, for he treated "maf’al" (with a kasra on the ‘ayn) as a verbal noun derived from a sound verb whose present tense is "yaf’ilu" (with a kasra). However, the grammarians have explicitly stated that its verbal noun is formed with an open ‘ayn (maf’al) and nothing else, while its noun of time and place is formed with a kasra (maf’il). Yes, the opinion that it is a verbal noun is acceptable in the recitation of Zayd ibn ‘Ali (may Allah be pleased with them both), "masrafan" (with a fathah on the 'ra').