Tafsir of An-Naba' 78:13

Surah An-Naba' (The Tidings) - Verses 13-26

Eighth Point: Regarding His saying, {And We made a blazing lamp} (wa jaʿalnā sirājan wahhājan).

The language used by lexicographers regarding the meaning of wahhāj (blazing) is somewhat varied:

1. Some say wahaj means the convergence of light and heat. Thus, God Almighty indicates that the sun reaches the utmost limits in both these qualities, which is what is meant by it being wahhāj.
2. Al-Kalbī narrated from Ibn ʿAbbās that wahhāj signifies only an intensification of light. It is said of a substance when it sparkles: tawahhaj. This implies that wahhāj conveys perfection in luminosity. A poet describes light:

   Its light is radiant, sparkling.

3. In the book of Al-Khalīl, al-wahaj is defined as the heat of fire and the sun, which implies that wahhāj is that which is intense in heat.

However, whichever of these interpretations is established, the intended meaning is achieved.

Ninth Point: Regarding His saying, {And We sent down from the rain clouds water gushing} (wa anzalnā mina l-muʿṣirāti māʾan thajjājan).

There are two main opinions concerning al-muʿṣirāt (the rain clouds):

First Opinion: This is one narration from Ibn ʿAbbās, and the view of Mujāhid, Muqātil, Al-Kalbī, and Qatādah. They hold that al-muʿṣirāt are the winds that stir up the clouds.

• Evidence: God’s saying: {It is Allah Who sends the winds so they raise clouds} [Ar-Rūm: 48].
• Objection: If this interpretation is taken, it should have been phrased: "And We sent down with the rain clouds" (bi-l-muʿṣirāt).
• Response (Twofold):
  1. Rain descends from clouds, and clouds are stirred up by winds. Thus, it is correct to say this rain resulted from those winds, just as one says, "This is from so-and-so," meaning, from his source or cause.
  2. The preposition min (from) here means bāʾ (with/by). The meaning is: "And We sent down by means of the rain clouds [i.e., the winds that stir the clouds]."
• It is narrated that ʿAbdullāh ibn ʿAbbās, ʿAbdullāh ibn Az-Zubayr, and ʿIkrimah recited it as: wa anzalnā bi-l-muʿṣirāt.
• Counter-Objection: Al-Azhari objected to this view, stating that aʿāṣīr (whirlwinds) are winds not associated with rain. Yet, God described al-muʿṣirāt with gushing water.
• Response: If whirlwinds are not rain-winds, why is it not permissible for al-muʿṣirāt to be rain-winds?

Second Opinion: This is the second narration from Ibn ʿAbbās, and the choice of Abū al-ʿĀliyah, Ar-Rabīʿ, and Aḍ-Ḍaḥḥāk. They hold that al-muʿṣirāt are the clouds themselves. They offered several reasons for naming clouds al-muʿṣirāt:

1. Al-Muʾarrij said: Al-muʿṣirāt are clouds in the dialect of Quraysh.
2. Al-Māzinī said: It is possible that al-muʿṣirāt are clouds that possess whirlwinds (aʿāṣīr), because when clouds are squeezed by whirlwinds, rain must descend from them.
3. Al-muʿṣirāt are clouds that are on the verge of being squeezed by the winds to rain, like saying ajazza az-zarʿ (the crop is ready to be reaped) when its time for reaping approaches. Similarly, aʿṣarat al-jāriyah means the girl is approaching menstruation.

Regarding Thajjājan (Gushing): Thajj means intense pouring. It is said of rain (matarun thajjāj) or blood (damun thajjāj), meaning intensely flowing.

• Thajj can be intransitive, meaning pouring (as mentioned).
• It can be transitive, meaning to pour out. In a Hadith: "The best Hajj is al-ʿajj (loud recitation of the Talbiyah) and ath-thajj (pouring out the blood of the sacrificial animals)."
• Ibn ʿAbbās was described as muththāj (one who pours forth) when delivering his sermons.
• In this verse, thajjājan is interpreted in both ways. Al-Kalbī, Muqātil, and Qatādah said thajjāj here means overflowing and pouring down. Az-Zajjāj said it means pouring out, as if it pours itself.
• In summary, the meaning is the continuous succession of raindrops until the water becomes abundant, thereby maximizing the benefit.

In this verse, there are several issues:

First Issue: Everything that grows from the earth either has a stem or it does not.

1. If it has no stem, it either has husks (this is grain - ḥubban), or it has no husks (this is vegetation - nabātan, referring to fodder/grass). These two categories are alluded to in: {Eat and pasture your cattle} [Ṭā-Hā: 54].
2. That which has a stem is trees. When many trees gather, they are called a garden (jannah).

• Thus, by rational proof, what grows from the earth is limited to these three categories. God mentioned grain first because it is the primary source of sustenance. He mentioned vegetation second because other animals need it. He mentioned gardens last because the need for fruits is not essential (like grain and fodder).

Second Issue: There is disagreement regarding alfāfan (dense foliage).

• The author of Al-Kashshāf stated it has no singular form, like al-awzāʿ (scattered groups) and al-akhayāf (mixed groups).
• Many linguists affirmed a singular form but disagreed on it:
  • Al-Akhfash and Al-Kisāʾī: The singular is lif (with a kasra). Al-Kisāʾī added luff (with a ḍammah), which Al-Mubarrid rejected.
  • Al-Mubarrid said the singular is lifāh, and its plural is lif, and the plural of lif is alfāf.
  • It is suggested it might be the plural of lafīf (like sharīf and ashrāf), as narrated by Al-Qaffāl.
• Meaning: {And gardens of dense foliage} means intertwined/closely packed. The meaning is that the trees within every garden are gathered closely together. Do you not see they say of a woman lafāʾ if she has thick legs and dense flesh, to the extent that they touch each other?

Third Issue: Al-Kaʿbī, who believed in natural forces (ṭabāʾiʿ), used this verse as evidence against those who claim God does nothing without a direct intermediary, arguing that {That We may bring forth thereby...} indicates God acts through means.

Know that the nine things God mentioned—considering their existence and attributes, and considering their possibility—all point to an Omnipotent Chooser. Considering the order and perfection within them, they point to the Creator being All-Knowing. That Eternal Doer must necessarily have necessary Knowledge and Power, for if they were contingent, they would require another agent, leading to an infinite regress, which is impossible. If Knowledge and Power are necessary, He must be capable of all possibilities and knowledgeable of all knowables. Since possibility is established, and the generality of power is established concerning physical bodies, whatever is possible for one category is possible for another. Just as separation, splitting, darkness, etc., are possible for physical bodies, they are also possible for the heavens. Once possibility, general power, and knowledge are established, it is proven that God is capable of destroying this world and capable of creating another world. At this point, the occurrence of the Resurrection becomes rationally possible. Up to this point, it can be proven by reason alone. As for what lies beyond—the time and manner of its occurrence—there is no path to it except through revelation.

Then, God Almighty spoke about these matters, saying: {Indeed, the Day of Decision was a decreed appointment} (Inna yawma l-faṣli kāna mīqātā). He then mentioned some conditions of the Resurrection:

First Condition: {Indeed, the Day of Decision was a decreed appointment}.

• Meaning: This Day was set in God's decree and judgment as a limit (ḥadd) by which the world would conclude, or a limit to which creation would arrive, or an appointed time for the reward and punishment God promised, or an appointed time for the gathering of all creation for the final judgment and the cessation of disputes.

Second Condition: {The Day the Trumpet will be blown, and you will come in multitudes} (Yawma yunfakhu fī ṣ-ṣūri fa-taʾtūna afwājā).

Know that {The Day the Trumpet will be blown} is a substitute (badal) for "The Day of Decision," or an explanation (ʿaṭf bayān). This blowing is the final blast that marks the gathering (ḥashr).

Regarding the blowing of the Trumpet (aṣ-ṣūr), there are two opinions:

1. Aṣ-ṣūr is the plural of ṣūrah (form/shape). Blowing in the ṣūrah is an expression for blowing souls into bodies.
2. Aṣ-ṣūr refers to a horn into which a blast is blown. (A full discussion on the Trumpet was previously covered in Surah Az-Zumar.)

His saying, {and you will come in multitudes} (fa-taʾtūna afwājā), means they will come to that station in groups (fawjan fawjan) until their gathering is complete. ʿAṭāʾ said: Every Prophet will come with his nation, similar to His saying: {The Day We call every people with their leader} [Al-Isrāʾ: 71]. Others say different groups.

Al-Kashshāf narrated that Muʿādh asked the Messenger of God (PBUH) about it. The Prophet (PBUH) replied: "O Muʿādh, you have asked about a great matter. Then his eyes widened, and he said: Ten types of my nation will be resurrected: some in the form of apes, some in the form of pigs, some inverted with their feet above their faces dragging themselves upon them, some blind, some deaf and mute, some chewing their tongues which hang down upon their chests, with pus flowing from their mouths, disgusting the assembly. Some will have their hands and feet cut off, some crucified on pillars of fire, some more foul-smelling than corpses, and some clothed in vast cloaks of pitch stuck to their skins.

• As for those in the form of apes, they are the tale-bearers.
• As for those in the form of pigs, they are those who consume illicit earnings (suḥt).
• As for those inverted on their faces, they are usurers.
• As for the blind, they are those who are unjust in judgment.
• As for the deaf and mute, they are those who admire their own deeds.
• As for those chewing their tongues, they are the scholars and storytellers whose deeds contradict their words.
• As for those whose hands and feet are cut off, they are those who harm their neighbors.
• As for those crucified on pillars of fire, they are those who incite people against the ruler.
• As for those more foul-smelling than corpses, they are those who follow desires and pleasures and withhold the due rights of God from their wealth.
• As for those wearing cloaks, they are the arrogant, boastful, and haughty."

Third Condition: {And the heaven will be split open, and it will have gates} (wa futiḥat as-samāʾu fa-kānat abwābā).

ʿĀṣim, Hamzah, and Al-Kisāʾī recited futiḥat (split open) with a light tāʾ (passive voice, singular). The rest recited it with a heavy tāʾ (passive voice, plural/intensive).

• Meaning: Its open gates became numerous for the descent of angels.
• Al-Qāḍī said this opening is the meaning of {When the heaven is split open} [Al-Inshiqāq: 1] and {When the heaven is broken apart} [Al-Infiṭār: 1], as splitting, cracking, and breaking apart are close in meaning.
• My View: This is not strong, because the concept of a door opening is different from cracking or breaking apart. The heaven might have doors, and those doors open without the substance of the heaven cracking or breaking. However, textual evidence indicates that when these doors open, cracking, breaking, and complete annihilation occur.
• Objection: If His saying {And the heaven will be split open, and it will have gates} implies the entire heaven becomes gates, how is this rationally conceivable?
• Responses (Several):
  1. Because those gates become so numerous, it is as if the heaven consists only of open gates, like His saying: {And We caused the earth to gush forth springs} [Al-Qamar: 12], meaning as if the entire earth became gushing springs.
  2. Al-Wāḥidī said this is from omitting a possessive noun (iḍāfat): the meaning is, "and it possessed gates" (wa kānat dhāta abwāb).
  3. The pronoun in {and it will have gates} refers back to an implied noun: "and those opened places became gates for the descent of angels," similar to His saying: {And your Lord comes, and the angels rank upon rank} [Al-Fajr: 22].

Fourth Condition: {And the mountains will be moved and become like a mirage} (wa suyyirat al-jibālu fa-kānat sarāban).

God mentioned the states of these mountains in different places in His Book. They can be reconciled according to the sequence we state:

1. First State: Crushing/Leveling (Indikāk): {And the earth and the mountains will be carried away and crushed with one crushing blow} [Al-Ḥāqqah: 14].
2. Second State: Becoming like Fluffed Wool (ka-l-ʿihni l-manfūsh): {The Day the people will be like scattered moths, and the mountains will be like carded wool} [Al-Qāriʿah: 5]. Also: {The Day the heaven will be like molten brass, and the mountains will be like wool} [Al-Maʿārij: 9].
3. Third State: Becoming like Scattered Dust (Habāʾ): This happens after they become like wool, as they break apart and scatter: {When the earth is shaken violently, and the mountains are ground to dust, and become scattered dust} [Al-Wāqiʿah: 4].
4. Fourth State: Being Blown Away (Nafs): Because, following the previous states, they were still fixed in their places while the earth beneath them was exposed, they will be blown away by the winds sent upon them: {Say, "My Lord will blow them away with a blowing"} [Ṭā-Hā: 105].
5. Fifth State: Flying like Clouds (Murr as-saḥāb): The winds lift them from the face of the earth, making them fly scattered in the air like dust. Whoever looks at them from afar, due to their density, thinks they are solid bodies, but they are merely passing by, their passage caused by the wind moving them, making them fragmented and dispersed. This is His saying: {And you see the mountains, thinking them fixed, but they will pass like clouds passing} [An-Naml: 88]. He then clarified that this movement occurs by His coercion and subjugation: {And [mention] the Day We will set the mountains in motion and you will see the earth as a leveled plain} [Al-Kahf: 47].
6. Sixth State: Becoming like a Mirage (Sarāb): Meaning, nothingness. Whoever looks at their former locations will find nothing there, just as one who sees a mirage from afar finds nothing when he reaches the place where he thought he saw it. And God knows best.

The states mentioned up to this point are general states. From here, He describes the terrors and conditions of Hellfire.

First Point: Regarding His saying: {Indeed, Hellfire has been an observation post} (Inna jahannama kānat mirṣādan).

• First Issue: Ibn Yaʿmur recited anna jahannama (with fatḥa on the hamza), suggesting a reason for the Hour's establishment: Hellfire was an observation post for the transgressors, as if saying: It was so established for the execution of recompense.
• Second Issue: Kānat mirṣādan (was an observation post):
  1. It was so in God's knowledge (as narrated by Al-Qaffāl).
  2. It became so (also narrated by Al-Qaffāl).
  3. A third view mentioned by Al-Qāḍī: If we interpret mirṣād as "awaited/expected," it implies that Hellfire was awaiting their arrival from ancient times, as if inviting and calling them.

• Third Issue: Regarding Mirṣād (Observation Post), there are two opinions:
  1. It is a noun for the place where one observes, like midmār (place for horse training) or minhāj (path). Under this view, there are two possibilities: a. The keepers of Hell monitor the disbelievers. b. The passage/crossing point for the believers was over Hell, based on {And there is none of you except he will pass over it} [Maryam: 71]. Thus, the keepers of Paradise receive the believers near Hell and monitor them there.
  2. Mirṣād is a mifʿāl form derived from raṣad (to watch/observe), implying intensity (like minẓār or miṭʿān). It is said that it intensely watches God's enemies and causes them distress, as in {it almost bursts with rage} [Al-Mulk: 8]. It watches every disbeliever and hypocrite.
• Those who hold the first opinion use as evidence: {Indeed, your Lord is in observation} [Al-Fajr: 14]. If mirṣād were an adjective, it should have been "Indeed, your Lord is observing" (murṣid).

• Fourth Issue: This verse indicates that Hellfire was created because of His saying: {Indeed, Hellfire was an observation post}, meaning prepared. If so, Paradise must also have been prepared, as no one argues otherwise.

Second Condition: {For the transgressors, a destination} (li-ṭ-ṭāghīna maʾābā).

There are two interpretations here:

1. If we consider it only an observation post (mirṣādan), then {For the transgressors} completes the preceding phrase: "Indeed, Hellfire was an observation post for the transgressors." Then, {a destination} (maʾābā) is a substitute for mirṣādan.
2. If we consider it an observation post generally (for disbelievers and believers), then {Indeed, Hellfire was an observation post} is a complete sentence. And {For the transgressors, a destination} is a new sentence, meaning: Hellfire is an observation post for everyone, but a destination (maʾāb) specifically for the transgressors.

Those who hold the first view do not pause after mirṣādan. Those who hold the second view do pause. Ṭāghīn (transgressors) refers to those who were arrogant toward their Lord and transgressed in their opposition and defiance. Maʾāb means a final resting place and abode.

Third Condition: {In which they will remain for ages} (Lābitīna fīhā aḥqābā). After establishing that Hell is the destination for the transgressors, God clarifies the duration of their stay.

• First Issue: The majority recited lābitīna (remaining). Ḥamzah recited labithīna.
  • Al-Farrāʾ said they mean the same thing; lābit and labith are interchangeable, like ṭāmiʿ and ṭamiʿ.
  • Al-Kashshāf said lābit is stronger, as lābit is one who exhibits remaining, whereas labith is only used for one whose nature is to remain settled in a place and rarely leave it.

• Second Issue: Regarding aḥqāb (ages):
  • Al-Farrāʾ said the root ḥaqb relates to succession and sequence. Aḥqaba means to follow one after another (related to ḥaqībah - saddlebag). Whoever carries a burden has iḥtaqaba. Thus, {remaining in it for ages} means successive periods, one following the other. This is supported by {I will not cease [my journey] until I reach the junction of the two seas or continue for an age} [Al-Kahf: 60], meaning successive years until I arrive or become accustomed.
  • Linguistically, ḥiqb is eighty years. Aḥqāb is the plural of ḥiqb, which is a period of time without a fixed measure.
  • Interpretations from exegetes:
    1. ʿAṭāʾ, Al-Kalbī, and Muqātil (from Ibn ʿAbbās): One ḥiqb is slightly over eighty years. A year is 360 days, and a day is 1000 worldly years. Ibn ʿUmar narrated something similar as a marfūʿ Hadith.
    2. Hilāl al-Hajarī asked ʿAlī (RA): A ḥiqb is 100 years; a year is 12 months; a month is 30 days; and a day is 1000 years.
    3. Al-Ḥasan: No one knows what the aḥqāb are, but one ḥiqb is 70,000 years, where one day in it equals 1000 of our counted years.

• Objection: If aḥqāb implies a finite duration, yet the punishment of the inhabitants of Hell is infinite, why did God not say "for ages without end" (al-aḥqāb), which would avoid this question? This is similar to the question regarding the people of the Qibla: {except as your Lord wills} [Hūd: 107].
• Responses (Several):
  1. The word aḥqāb does not imply that the passing of one ḥiqb ends the duration. Rather, each individual ḥiqb is finite, but the meaning is that whenever one ḥiqb passes, another follows it, and so on, eternally.
  2. Az-Zajjāj said the meaning is that they will remain in it for ages during which they will taste no coolness nor drink, except scalding water and foul discharge. These ages specify a type of torment—the lack of refreshment. After these ages, they will be changed from scalding water and discharge to another kind of torment.
  3. Even if aḥqāb implies finitude, this is an implication derived from the phrasing (mafhūm). The explicit text (manṭūq) states they will not exit: {They will wish to leave the Fire, but they will not be able to leave it, and for them is an enduring punishment} [Al-Māʾidah: 37]. The explicit text takes precedence.
  4. Al-Kashshāf suggested another view: Aḥqāb could be the plural of ḥaqb in the sense of a year of drought and scarcity, or a time when one's livelihood is missed. Thus, they remain in it for two barren ages, and {They will not taste therein coolness nor any drink, except scalding water and foul discharge} explains this state.

Fourth Issue: {Tasting therein neither coolness nor any drink, except scalding water and foul discharge, a fitting recompense} (Lā yadhūqūna fīhā bardan wa-lā sharāban, illā ḥamīman wa-ghassāqan, jazāʾan wafāqā).

• First Issue: If we adopt Az-Zajjāj’s view, {nor any drink} connects to the preceding phrase, and the pronoun in fīhā (therein) refers to the aḥqāb. If not, this is a new, independent sentence, and the pronoun refers to Hellfire.

• Second Issue: Regarding bard (coolness):
  1. First View (Literal): It means the known coolness. They will taste no relief from the intense heat, such as a cool breeze or shade from the fire, nor will they find a drink to quench their thirst and soothe their burning insides. In short, they will find no cool air.
  2. Second View (Metaphorical): Bard here means sleep, according to Al-Akhfash, Al-Kisāʾī, Al-Farrāʾ, Quṭrub, and Al-ʿUtbī. Al-Farrāʾ said sleep is called bard because it cools its sleeper; a thirsty person sleeps and is cooled by sleep. Abū ʿUbaydah and Al-Mubarrid cited a poet to support this:

     Her lips grew cool upon me, so sleep kept me away From her and from her sips. Al-Mubarrid noted an Arab proverb: "Coolness prevented sleep" (Manʿa al-bard al-bard), meaning something kept me from sleeping.

  • Preference: The first view is stronger because if a word can be taken in its common, literal meaning, there is no need to resort to a rare, strange metaphor.
  • Arguments for the Second View (Sleep): a. One does not say "tasting sleep" (dhawq an-nawm), but one says "tasting coolness." b. They will taste the cold of extreme frost (zamharīr), so it is not correct to say they did not taste coldness. Even if that coldness was harmful, they still tasted coldness.
  • Response to Arguments: a. Just as tasting sleep is metaphorical, tasting coolness is also metaphorical. What is meant by {they will not taste coolness therein} is that they will not inhale a cool breath or cool air. Since inhaled air passes through the mouth and nose, using the term dhawq (tasting) for it is permissible. b. It does not say they will not taste the coolness, but "not taste a coolness" (bardan), meaning the coolness that brings benefit and relief.

• Third Issue: Regarding ḥamīm (scalding water): It is said to be molten brass, which is false. Ḥamīm is extremely boiling water.

• Fourth Issue: Regarding ghassāq (foul discharge), several views exist:
  1. Abū Muʿādh heard elders say ghassāq is an Arabized Persian word for something they find repulsive (khāshāk).
  2. Ghassāq is unbearable cold, known as zamharīr.
  3. Ghassāq is what flows from the eyes, skin, pus, sweat, and other repulsive bodily fluids of the inhabitants of Hell. Al-Khalīl said: ghasaqat ʿaynahu (his eye discharged).
  4. Ghassāq is foul-smelling. A narration states the Prophet (PBUH) said: "If a bucket of ghassāq were poured over the world, it would stink up the people of the world."
  5. Ghāsiq means dark/obscure (as in {and from the evil of darkness when it settles} [Al-Falaq: 3]). Thus, ghassāq is a black, repulsive drink that causes aversion, like something dark.

• Synthesis: If we interpret ghassāq as cold, the structure is: "They will taste no coolness except coldness, and no drink except scalding water." However, they are paired for rhythmic consistency, like the poet Imru’ al-Qays:

  As if the hearts of birds, fresh and dry, Were at their nest the jujube fruit and the dry, old date-stones. Meaning: The fresh ones are like jujubes, and the dry ones are like date-stones.

• If we interpret ghassāq as pus or foulness, the exception (illā) might refer to both coolness/drink (i.e., no refreshment except scalding water and foul pus) or only to the drink (i.e., no drink except scalding water or foul pus).
  • First possibility: They will taste no drink except scalding water (extreme heat) and foul pus (extreme stench).
  • Second possibility: They will taste no drink except scalding water, or foul pus.
• Objection: Pus is not drunk, so how can it be excepted from drink?
• Response: It is a fluid, so drinking it is possible in principle. If it is confirmed that drinking it is impossible, then it is an exception of a different category (istithnāʾ min ghayr al-jins), the rationale for which is known.

• Fifth Issue: Ḥamzah, Al-Kisāʾī, and ʿĀṣim (from Ḥafṣ’s narration) recited ghassāqan with a shaddah (intensive sīn), suggesting faʿʿāl (meaning flowing/streaming). The rest recited it with a light sīn, like sharāb (noun). The former is an adjective, the latter a noun.

• Final Point: After detailing the types of punishment, God clarifies that it is: {a fitting recompense} (jazāʾan wafāqā).
  • First Meaning: God inflicted severe punishment because they committed severe disobedience; thus, the punishment wafāqa (matches) the sin, similar to {The recompense of a bad deed is a bad deed like it} [Ash-Shūrā: 40].
  • Second Meaning: It is wafāqa in that it neither exceeds nor falls short of what they deserve.
  • Grammatical Views:
    1. Wifāq and muwāfiq are synonymous in language; meaning a matching recompense.
    2. It is in the accusative case as an infinitive (maṣdar): A recompense that matched their deeds (wafāqa aʿmālahum).
    3. It is an adjective derived from the infinitive, like saying someone is "generosity" (fadhlan wa karaman) when he is perfect in that quality. Here, since the recompense is perfect in matching the desert, it is described as wafāqa.
    4. It implies an omitted possessive noun: "a recompense possessing wifāq."
  • Abū Ḥaywah recited wafāqan (with fāʿ), derived from wifq (agreement).
• Objection: How can this severe, unending punishment (in duration) be a wafāqa for committing disbelief for a single moment? Furthermore, according to the Sunnis, since disbelief occurs by God's creation and bringing into existence, how can this be a wafāqa for it? According to the Muʿtazilah, God’s knowledge of their lack of faith was already present, and the existence of their faith was inherently contradictory to that knowledge. Thus, with one contradiction established, commanding the introduction of the second contradiction into existence would be inherently impossible—a command to combine two contradictions. How then can such severe, eternal punishment be a wafāqa for such a crime?
• Response: God does what He wills and judges as He wills.

After generally explaining that the recompense matched their crime, God explains the types of their crimes:

First of their crimes: {Indeed, they used not to expect an accounting} (Innahum kānū lā yarjūna ḥisāban).