Surah Al-Mulk 67:6
ﲆ ﲇ ﲈ ﲉ ﲊ ﲋ ﲌ ﲍ
And for those who disbelieved in their Lord is the punishment of Hell, and wretched is the destination.
Tafsir of Al-Mulk 67:6
Tafsir
Al-Kashshaf
Verse range: 67:6
{And for those who disbelieved in their Lord} Meaning: For everyone who disbelieved in Allah, whether from the devils or others.
{is the punishment of Hell} The stoned devils are not exclusively singled out for this. It is also recited as *‘adhāba jahannama* (in the accusative case), as a conjunction to *‘adhāba al-sa‘īr* (the punishment of the Blaze).
{When they are cast into it} Meaning: They are thrown, just as firewood is thrown into a great fire and cast into it. Similar to this is His saying: {The fuel of Hell} (Al-Anbiya: 98).
{they hear a *shahīq* (intake of breath) from it} This is either from its inhabitants who were cast in before them, or from the fire itself—as in His saying: {For them therein is *zafīr* (exhaling) and *shahīq* (inhaling)} (Hud: 106). Or, it refers to the fire, likening its hideous and terrible sound to a *shahīq*.
{while it boils} It seethes with them like a cooking pot boils with its contents. It is described as if it were enraged at them due to the intensity of its boiling with them. People say of someone: "He is bursting with rage" or "He is splitting with anger," or "He became so angry that a part of him flew to the earth and a part to the sky," when describing extreme fury. It is also possible that the rage refers to the *Zabāniyah* (the keepers of Hell).
{Did no warner come to you?} A rebuke through which their punishment and regret are increased. The keepers of Hell—Mālik and his assistants from the *Zabāniyah*—ask this.
{They will say: "Yes"} This is an admission from them of Allah’s justice and an acknowledgment that Allah, the Exalted, removed their excuses by sending messengers and warning them of what they have fallen into. It confirms that they were not compelled by His decree—as the *Mujbira* (determinists) claim—but rather, they were brought to this by their own selves and their choice to act contrary to what Allah chose, commanded, and warned against.
If you ask: Who is being addressed in {You are in nothing but great error}? I say: It is part of the speech of the disbelievers addressing the warners. This is based on the understanding that nadhīr (warner) means indhār (warning); the meaning being: "Did no one come to you with a warning?" Or, they described their warners as such due to their intensity in warning, as if they were nothing but "warning" itself. Similarly: {We are the messenger of the Lord of the worlds} (Ash-Shu'ara: 16), meaning: "bearing His message."
It is also possible that this is the speech of the keepers to the disbelievers, implying: they wanted to recount the error they were in during the worldly life. Or, by "error," they meant "destruction." Or, they named the punishment of error by the name of the error itself. Or, it is from the speech of the messengers to them, which they (the disbelievers) recounted to the keepers, meaning: "They said this to us, but we did not accept it."
{If we had been listening} Listening as those who seek the truth.
{or reasoning} Reasoning as those who contemplate. It is said that hearing and reason are combined because the pivot of religious obligation rests upon the proofs of hearing and reason.
Among the heretical interpretations: That it means "If we had been of the school of the Ahl al-Hadith or the school of the Ahl al-Ra'y." As if this verse were revealed after the emergence of these two schools, as if Allah had decreed the punishment of all other followers of schools and mujtahids, and as if whoever belongs to these two is inevitably among the saved. The number of those promised Paradise from the Companions is ten, and no eleventh was added to them. And as if most of those who will cross the Sirāt (bridge) never even heard the names of these two groups.