Tafsir of Al-Burooj 85:10

"Indeed, those who have persecuted the believing men and believing women," meaning: those who have tested them in their religion so that they might turn away from it.

The intended meaning of "those who have persecuted the believing men and believing women" refers either to the People of the Trench—specifically those who cast them into it—or it is more general, including the aforementioned as a primary inclusion, which is the most manifest view. It has been said that the intended meaning of the relative pronoun is the disbelievers of Quraysh who tortured the believing men and women of this [Muslim] nation with various types of torment. Regarding His saying, "then have not repented," Ibn Atiyyah stated that it is supported that the verse refers to Quraysh, because this wording applies more strictly to them than to those [the People of the Trench] who are already known to have died in their disbelief. As for Quraysh, there were among them, at the time of the revelation, those who repented and believed. You are aware that this, despite what it contains, does not undermine the manifest nature of the general meaning. The apparent meaning is: "then have not repented" from their persecution.

"For them is the punishment of Hell," meaning: because of their persecution. "And for them is the punishment of the Burning Fire," which is another fire, one of intense burning, as the form of the word indicates, due to their lack of repentance and their indifference to what they had committed. Some eminent scholars have said: "For them is the punishment of Hell" due to their disbelief—for such an act is inconceivable from anyone other than a disbeliever—"and for them is the punishment of the Burning Fire" due to their persecution of the believing men and believing women. There is an evident merit in making the latter the penalty for the persecution. This has been criticized on the basis that the title of "disbelief" was not explicitly stated in the relative clause; rather, what was explicitly stated was "persecution" and "not repenting." Therefore, the most manifest view is to consider them two reasons for the predicate in sequence.

It has been said that "for them is Hell" in the Hereafter, and "for them is the punishment of the Burning Fire" in this world, based on what has been narrated from al-Rabi’ and others: that the fire turned back upon them and burned them. You already know the status of that [narration]. Abu Hayyan criticized this by noting that "then have not repented" refutes it, because it has not been transmitted to us that any of those who burned [the believers] repented; rather, the apparent fact is that they did not perish except while in a state of disbelief. This is open to scrutiny.

According to this, the reason for delaying "and for them is the punishment of the Burning Fire" is for the sake of the verse endings, or for completion and sequence, as if it were said: "That," which is the ultimate punishment, is inevitable. This, too, does not go beyond that. In al-Kashf, the view is that the punishment of Hell and the punishment of the Burning Fire are one and the same, described in a way indicating that for those utterly banished from His mercy—Exalted is He—it is a punishment that is pure burning, an extreme incineration; and that is sufficient as a punishment. The apparent meaning is that he considered "Burning" (al-hariq) as an infinitive and the genitive construction (idafah) as clarificatory. There is no harm in this, except that the unity he claimed contradicts the apparent meaning of the conjunction. Some said: if it were treated as an instance of connecting the specific to the general for emphasis, it would be more plausible, since the punishment of Hell includes extreme cold (zamharir), burning, and other things. Perhaps what we have mentioned is further from controversy.

The clause "for them is the punishment of Hell..." serves as the predicate for "those who," for the prepositional phrase [in the predicate] is in the place of the predicate, and "punishment" is in the nominative as the agent (for the implicit verb), which is the better view. The fa (in falahum) is present because the subject contains the meaning of a condition. It is not harmed by the claim that inna is used for emphasis even if al-Akhfash claimed it [to be a condition], and he used this verse—in some of its aspects—as evidence that the punishment of the disbelievers is multiplied by the sins that accompany it.