Tafsir of Al-Masad 111:5

Surah Al-Masad (The Palm Fiber) - Verse 5

فِي جِيدِهَا حَبْلٌ (A rope of palm fiber shall be on her neck.)

Al-Wahidi said:

• Al-Masad in the language of the Arabs means twisting or braiding.
• It is said, "He twisted the rope (masada al-habl) if he expertly twisted it."
• A man is called mamsud if he is well-formed/brawny.
• Al-Masad is whatever has been twisted, regardless of its material.
• Thus, what is twisted from camel hide, from coir (fiber), or from palm leaves is called masad.
• Even what is twisted from iron is called masad.

If you understand this, then the commentators have mentioned several interpretations:

1. First Interpretation: That the rope on her neck is made of twisted fibers (masad) because she used to carry that bundle of thorns and tie it around her neck, just as woodcutters do. The intent here is to show her baseness by likening her to woodcutters, causing distress to her and her husband (Abu Lahab).
2. Second Interpretation: That her condition in the Fire of Hell will be in the same form as when she carried the bundle of thorns. Thus, there will remain on her back a bundle of the firewood of Hell—from the tree of Zaqqum—and on her neck, a rope made of the chains of the Fire.

If it is asked: How can a rope made of masad endure eternally in the Fire?

We reply: Just as the skin, flesh, and bone endure eternally in the Fire.

• Some scholars said that this masad is made of iron.
• The assumption that masad cannot be made of iron is incorrect, because al-masad simply means "that which is twisted," whether it is made of iron or something else.

And Allah, the Glorified and Exalted, knows best. Praise be to Allah, Lord of the Worlds.