Tafsir of Maryam 19:68

On God’s Oath God’s swearing by His own Name, exalted be His names, while attributing it to the Messenger of God (peace be upon him), serves to magnify the status of the Messenger and elevate him, just as He elevated the status of the heaven and the earth in His saying: "So by the Lord of the heaven and the earth, it is indeed the truth" (Adh-Dhariyat: 23).

The Gathering with Devils The waw (and) in wa-al-shayatin (and the devils) may be for conjunction or it may carry the meaning of "with" (ma'a), and the latter is more fitting. The meaning is that they will be gathered along with their companions from among the devils who led them astray; every disbeliever will be coupled with a devil in a chain.

If you ask: This applies if "man" refers specifically to the disbelievers. But if it refers to all humans generally, how is their gathering with the devils consistent? I say: When all people are gathered in one gathering, and among them are the disbelievers coupled with devils, then they have been gathered with the devils just as the disbelievers have been gathered.

If you ask: Why were the righteous not separated from the wicked in the gathering, just as they were separated in the recompense? I say: They were not separated from them in the place of gathering; they were brought to where they knelt around Hell. They were brought to the Fire with them so that the righteous might witness the conditions from which God saved and delivered them. Thus, their joy and happiness increase, and they gloat over the enemies of God and their own enemies, while the enemies' distress, regret, and rage at the happiness and gloating of God’s allies increase.

On Kneeling (Juthyyan) If you ask: What is the meaning of their being brought "kneeling"? I say: If "man" is interpreted specifically, it means they arrive from the gathering place to the shore of Hell, dragged in the state they were in at the station—kneeling on their knees, not walking on their feet. The people at the station are described as kneeling, as God says: "And you will see every nation kneeling" (Al-Jathiyah: 28). This is due to the custom in places of negotiation and transition, where people kneel before the rider due to the anxiety, restlessness, and lack of tranquility, or due to the intensity of the situation that prevents them from standing, causing them to crawl on their knees. If interpreted generally, it means they kneel upon reaching the shore of Hell, as "kneeling" is a state that was destined for them, just as they were kneeling at the station, for it is a consequence of standing for the reckoning before reaching the reward or punishment.

On the Sects (Shi'ah) The term shi'ah (sect)—a noun like firqah (group) or fityah (youths)—refers to a group that has followed a misguided leader. God says: "Indeed, those who have divided their religion and become sects" (Al-An'am: 159). It means: We will distinguish from every group of misguidance and corruption those who are most rebellious and most arrogant. When they are gathered, We will cast them into the Fire in order, starting with those most deserving of the punishment.

Or, it may mean by "those who are most worthy of burning" those who are singled out as they are. It is as if He said: "Then We are most knowing of the burning of these," for they are more worthy of the burning than all others; their levels in Hell are lower, and their punishment is more severe. It is possible that "the most intense of them in rebellion" refers to the leaders of the sects and their imams, because their crime is doubled by being both misguided and misguiding. God says: "Those who disbelieved and averted [others] from the way of God - We will increase them in punishment over [their] punishment for what they were corrupting" (An-Nahl: 88), and "They will surely bear their own burdens and [other] burdens along with their burdens" (Al-Ankabut: 13).

Grammatical Notes Regarding the parsing of ayuhum ashaddu (which of them is more intense): Al-Khalil says it is in the nominative case as a quotation; the meaning is "We will surely extract those of whom it is said: 'Which of them is more intense?'" Sibawayh says it is built upon the damma because the beginning of the sentence (which is its relative clause) has been dropped; if it were brought back, it would be inflected. It is also said that it is ayuhum huwa ashaddu.

It is possible that the "extraction" (naz') applies to "from every sect," like His saying: "And We bestowed upon them from Our mercy"—meaning, "We will surely extract some from every sect." It is as if someone asked, "Who are they?" and it was said, "The most intense of them in rebellion." Ayahum ashaddu is read in the accusative by Talha ibn Musarrif and Mu'adh ibn Muslim al-Harra'.

If you ask: What do "upon" ('ala) and "with" (bi) relate to, since they cannot relate to the two verbal nouns? I say: They are for clarification, not for connection. Or they relate to the superlative (af'al), meaning: their rebellion is more intense upon the Most Merciful, and their burning is more worthy of the Fire, just as one says, "He is more intense upon his opponent," and "He is more worthy of such-and-such."

"And there is none of you except he will come to it. This is upon your Lord an inevitability decreed. Then We will save those who feared God and leave the wrongdoers within it, kneeling."