Tafsir of Al-Ma'aarij 70:15

Surah Al-Ma'arij: Verse 15

كلا إنها لظى

Kallā (No/Indeed not)! Indeed, it is Laẓā (a blazing Fire).

Translation and Exegesis:

• {كلا} (Kallā): This is a reprimand (ردع) directed at the criminal, rejecting his desire to redeem himself with his children, and confirming that such ransom will neither benefit him nor save him from punishment.

• {أنها} (Innahā): There are two possible interpretations for this pronoun:
  1. It refers to the Fire (النار), even though the Fire was not explicitly mentioned before. However, the mention of punishment implies it.
  2. It could be the pronoun of the story (ضمير القصة), and {لظى} (Laẓā) is one of the names of the Fire.

• {لظى} (Laẓā): Al-Layth said that Laẓā means pure, intense flame (اللهب الخالص). The verb is laẓiyat an-nāru talẓā laẓan (the fire blazed fiercely). From this comes the Quranic phrase: {نارا تلظى} (a Fire that blazes). Laẓā here is a proper noun (علم) for the Fire, derived from the verbal noun laẓā. It is definite and thus does not take tanwīn (nunation).

• {نزاعة} (Nazzāʿah - snatching away): This word is in the nominative case (مرفوعة). There are several views regarding this grammatical elevation:
  1. The hā' (pronoun) in Innahā is treated as an emphatic particle (ʿimād), and Laẓā is the Ism Inna (subject of Inna), while Nazzāʿah is the Khabar Inna (predicate of Inna). The meaning is: Indeed, Laẓā is a snatching Fire.
  2. The hā' is the pronoun of the story. Laẓā becomes the subject (mubtada’), and Nazzāʿah is the predicate (khabar). This entire clause (Laẓā Nazzāʿah) becomes the predicate for the pronoun of the story. The meaning is: Indeed, the story is that it is a Fire that snatches away the skin.
  3. It is in the nominative case due to Dhamm (praise/emphasis), as if saying: "Indeed, it is Laẓā, and it is a snatcher of the skin." This is the view of Al-Akhfash, Al-Farrā’, and Al-Zajjāj.

• Regarding the accusative reading (نصب) of {نزاعة}: There are three views:
  1. Al-Zajjāj said it is an emphatic circumstantial adverb (ḥāl mu’akkidah), similar to saying: {هو الحق مصدقا} (He is the Truth, confirmed). Abu Ali Al-Fārisī objected to this, arguing that attributing a ḥāl (circumstantial state) is weak here because there is no preceding verb that governs the state. He argued that since Laẓā is a proper noun for a specific essence, it cannot be qualified by circumstantial states (which usually qualify actions); only actions can be qualified by states (e.g., "I saw a man while he was learned," not "A man while he was learned").
  2. Laẓā is the name of a Fire that blazes intensely, and this intense blazing action (taẓallī) acts as the cause for the accusative case of {نزاعة}.
  3. It is in the accusative case due to Ikhtiṣāṣ (specification), meaning: "Indeed, it is Laẓā—I mean, it snatches away the skin." This reading was not prohibited.

• {الشوى} (Al-Shawā): This refers to the extremities (الأطراف), meaning the hands and feet. It is also said that if an archer misses the vital spot and hits the extremities, he is described as ashwā. Al-Shawā also refers to the skin of the head; the singular is shawāh.

• Linguistic Evidence: Al-Aʿshā said:

  She said, O Qutaylah, what is wrong with him? His head skin has been covered with grey hairs.

• Interpretations of what is snatched:
  • The view of the linguists is mentioned above.
  • Mugātil: The Fire snatches away the skull (الهامة) and the extremities, leaving no flesh or skin, burning everything.
  • Saʿīd ibn Jubayr: The tendons (العصب), the heel (العقب), the flesh of the shins and hands.
  • Thābit al-Bunānī: The noble parts of the human face.

• Reconstitution: Know that when the Fire consumes these limbs, Allah Almighty will restore them again, as He says: {نارا كلما نضجت جلودهم بدلناهم جلودا غيرها ليذوقوا العذاب} (A Fire into which they are cast, and whenever their skins are roasted through, We shall change them for other skins so that they may taste the punishment).

{تدعوا من أدبر وتولى * وجمع فأوعى}

[It calls] to one who turned his back and withdrew, * And gathered [wealth] and hoarded it.

(The connection here is that this Fire calls out to those who turned away from faith and truth, and who accumulated wealth and stored it away, refusing to spend it.)