Maryam: (68) By your Lord, We will surely gather them and the devils . . .

"By your Lord": He swears by His Name—exalted are His names—while adding it to the pronoun of His Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) to verify the matter by indicating its cause, to exalt his status (peace be upon him), and to elevate his position.

"We will surely gather them": That is, We will surely assemble those who uttered what has been mentioned [previously], bringing them from the markets to the place of gathering after We have brought them out alive. The oath regarding this—without swearing to the Resurrection itself—is a proof of it in the most eloquent and emphatic way, as if it were a matter so clear that it does not require explicit statement after its possibility has been established by the aforementioned decisive argument. What requires clarification is the terror that follows it.

The pronoun refers to the disbelievers who uttered [the previous statements]; this is the most apparent interpretation considering the context, and it is the view held by Ibn ‘Atiyyah and a group [of scholars]. This does not contradict the intention of the "one" from the human race, as is obvious.

Abu Hayyan asserted that it refers to all people, both the believer and the disbeliever.

"And the devils": Conjoined to the accusative pronoun or as an accusative of accompaniment. It is narrated that the disbelievers will be gathered with their companions from among the devils who used to lead them astray, each of them with his devil in a chain. The explanation for this—on the assumption that the pronoun refers to all mankind—is that when they are gathered, and among them are the disbelievers bound to the devils, they have all been gathered together according to the pattern previously mentioned regarding attributing the speech to the [entire] species. It is said: Every single person, believer or disbeliever, will be gathered with his companion from among the devils; this is not exclusive to the disbeliever. This may be supported by what is in the Two Sahihs from Ibn Mas’ud (may Allah be pleased with him) in a marfu’ narration: "There is not one of you except that his companion from among the jinn has been assigned to him." They asked: "Even you, O Messenger of Allah?" He said: "Even me, but Allah helped me against him, so he submitted and does not command me except with good."

"Then We will surely bring them around Hell kneeling": Juthyyan (kneeling) is the plural of jathin (kneeler). The root is juthuw, with two waws; their combination following two dammahs was considered heavy, so the tha was vowelled with kasra for lightness. The first waw was changed to a ya because it was quiescent and preceded by a kasra. Thus, a waw and a ya met, and one of them was preceded by a sukoon, so the waw was changed to a ya, the ya was assimilated into the ya, and the jim was vowelled with kasra to follow the letter that comes after it.

More than one of the seven [reciters] read it with damma [on the jim], which is the plural of jathin in both recitations. Al-Raghib permitted it to be an infinitive, similar to what was said regarding buka (weeping), as previously mentioned. Perhaps the bringing of the disbelievers in this state is to humiliate them, or because of their inability to stand due to the intensity that has overcome them.

Some have said that the reckoning will take place around Hell, so they will kneel in order to dispute with one another, after which they will disown one another. Al-Suddi said: They will kneel because the place will be constricted for them. Thus, the state (the kneeling), according to both opinions, is destined/predetermined, contrary to what was mentioned before [regarding its occurrence]. It is also said that it is destined for them because the meaning is their kneeling around Hell.

Those who made the pronoun refer to the disbelievers and others said: The blessed and the wretched are both brought around Hell so that the blessed may see what Allah has saved them from, thereby increasing their joy and delight, while the wretched receive what was stored for their return and their rage increases because the blessed have returned away from them to the Abode of Reward and mocked them. All of them kneel there due to the terror of the sight that overwhelms them, or because of the constriction of the place, or because it is a consequence of the standing for the reckoning and the debating before reaching the Reward and the Punishment.

It is said that they kneel upon their knees to manifest humility in that great station. The apparent meaning of His saying—Exalted is He—("And you will see every nation kneeling") indicates that everyone at the station will kneel. However, there will come soon, if Allah wills, what is apparent in the reports regarding the fact that not everyone will kneel. And Allah knows best.

As for the "state" (the kneeling), some say it is predetermined, others say it is not, but rather that what applies to some is attributed to all. To say it is predetermined for the blessed and not predetermined for the wretched is incorrect. From Ibn ‘Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both), it is reported that he interpreted juthyyan as "groups," on the basis that it is the plural of juthwah, which is a heap of dirt or stones—meaning: "We will surely bring them in groups."