Surah Al-Ma'idah 5:37
ﱁ ﱂ ﱃ ﱄ ﱅ ﱆ ﱇ ﱈ ﱉ ﱊ ﱋ ﱌ ﱍ
They will wish to get out of the Fire, but never are they to emerge therefrom, and for them is an enduring punishment.
Tafsir of Al-Ma'idah 5:37
Tafsir
Ruh al-Ma'ani
Verse range: 5:37
(They wish to exit the Fire) This serves to indicate that just as their ransom does not avert their torment, its persistence cannot be averted, nor can it be severed. It is—based on what has preceded—a resumption [of speech] formulated to clarify their state while struggling through the torment. It is built upon a question arising from what preceded it, as if it were said: "What will their state be, or what will they do?" Thus, it was said: "They wish to..." It has been clarified within this that their torment is the torment of the Fire.
As for "wishing," it is said to be in its well-known, literal sense; that is, the flames of the Fire lift them up, so they wish to exit, yet how could they? This is narrated from al-Hasan. Al-Juba'i said: "The wish means 'desire' (tamanni); meaning, they desire that."
It is also said: The meaning is that they are about to exit it due to its intensity and its excessive lifting of them, similar to the saying of the Exalted: "...and found therein a wall that was about to collapse," (18:77) meaning it was on the verge of doing so. It should not be said: "How is it permissible for them to wish to exit the Fire while knowing of their eternal abode?" For we say: The terror of that day will make them forget that. And even if there is no forgetting, we say: Knowing that a thing will not come to pass does not divert one from wishing for it, just as knowledge of its realization does not [necessitate] it; for the motive for the wish is the beauty of the thing and the need for it.
(And they are not to be exiting it) This is either a state (hal) from the subject of "wish," or a parenthetical clause. Whichever it may be, the preference for the nominal sentence over the verbal one—initiated with the *Ma* of the Hejazis, which signifies through the *ba* in its scope the emphasis of negation—is to clarify the completeness of their miserable state through the continuity of their inability to exit it. Just as an affirmative nominal sentence, as previously indicated, denotes the perpetuity of what is established, it also denotes, with the aid of the context, the perpetuity of the negation—not the negation of perpetuity. Abu Waqid read *an yukhraju* (that they be brought out) in the passive voice [derived from *al-ikhraj*]. The reading of the majority is supported by the saying of the Exalted: *bi-kharijina* (as exiters) rather than *bi-mukhrijina* (as those who are brought out). This verse, as you see, is regarding the disbelievers, so it does not contradict the belief in intercession for the sinful believers to exit [the Fire], as is not hidden from anyone who possesses the slightest bit of faith.
Muslim, Ibn al-Mundhir, and Ibn Marduyah recorded from Jabir ibn Abd Allah that the Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) said: "A people will exit the Fire and enter Paradise." Yazid al-Faqir said: "I said to Jabir: 'But Allah the Exalted says: "They wish to exit the Fire and they are not to be exiting it."' He said: 'Recite the beginning of the verse: Indeed, those who disbelieve—if they had all that is in the earth... it would not be accepted from them.'" And Ibn Jarir recorded from Ikrimah that Nafi' ibn al-Azraq said to Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both): "You claim that a people will exit the Fire, yet Allah the Exalted has said: 'And they are not to be exiting it.' Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) said: 'Woe to you, read what is above it; this is for the disbelievers.'"
As for the narration that he said to him: "O you who is blind of sight and blind of heart, do you claim..." al-Zamakhshari recounted this and subsequently defamed the Ahl al-Sunnah, accusing them of lying and fabrication. He thus verified the saying: "She struck me with her own affliction and slipped away." We are not compelled to authenticate this narration, nor did Allah the Exalted make the correctness of doctrine dependent upon its authenticity. How many authentic hadiths we possess that witness to the truth of what we say and the invalidity of what the Mu'tazilah say—may they be ruined.