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Tafsir of Al-Haqqah 69:30-37

Surah Al-Haqqah 69:36

ﱁ ﱂ ﱃ ﱄ ﱅ

Nor any food except from the discharge of wounds;

Tafsir

Al-Kashshaf

Verse range: 69:30-37

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{Then roast him in Hell} Do not roast him in anything but Hell, which is the Great Fire, because he was a tyrant who acted arrogantly toward people. It is said: *ṣallā al-nār* (he roasted in the fire) and *ṣalāt al-nār* (the roasting of the fire).

{Then in a chain whose length is seventy cubits, bind him} To bind him in the chain means to twist it around his body until it wraps over him. He is oppressed and constricted within it, unable to move. The mention of "seventy cubits" is intended to describe its length, just as in the verse: "If you ask forgiveness for them seventy times," meaning many times. For when it is long, the oppression is more severe.

The meaning of placing the "chain" before the "binding" is like the placement of "Hell" before the "roasting"—meaning: do not bind him in anything but this chain, as if it were more horrific than all other places of oppression in Hell. The word "then" (thumma) indicates the disparity between the shackling, the roasting in Hell, and the binding in the chain, not a delay in time.

{Indeed, he did not use to believe in Allah, the Most Great} This is an explanation provided as a new statement, which is more eloquent. It is as if it were asked: "Why is he punished with this severe torment?" and this was the answer.

{And he did not encourage the feeding of the poor} In this statement are two strong proofs regarding the magnitude of the sin of depriving the poor: 1. Linking it to disbelief, making it a companion to it. 2. Mentioning the *encouragement* rather than the *act* itself, so that it may be known that if the one who fails to encourage is in this position, then what of the one who fails to perform the act?

How beautiful is the saying of the poet: When guests arrive, he is a source of distress to the tribe until his cooking pots are set up. He means his encouragement of hospitality, his haste, and his insistence upon it.

It is narrated that Abu al-Darda’ used to urge his wife to increase the broth for the sake of the poor, saying: "We have removed half the chain through faith, shall we not remove the other half?" It is also said that this refers to the refusal of the disbelievers, as in their saying: "Shall we feed one whom, if Allah willed, He would have fed?" (Yasin: 47).

{So there is no devoted friend for him this Day} A "devoted friend" (*ḥamīm*) is a close relative who would defend him or grieve for him. They will avoid him and flee from him, as in the verse: "No devoted friend will ask about a devoted friend" (Al-Ma'arij: 10).

{Nor any food except from the filth of the washing} *Ghislin* is the washing of the people of Hell—what flows from their bodies in the form of pus and blood. It is derived from *ghasl* (washing).

{None will eat it except the sinners} The *khāṭi'ūn* are the sinful, the people of errors. A man *khaṭi'a* when he commits a sin intentionally; these are the polytheists, according to Ibn Abbas. It is also read as *al-khāṭiyūn* (by changing the hamza to ya) and *al-khāṭūn* (by dropping it). Ibn Abbas was asked: "What is *al-khāṭūn*? We all walk (*nakhtū*)." Abu al-Aswad al-Du'ali narrated from him: "What is *al-khāṭūn*? It is only *al-khāṭi'ūn* (the sinners). What is *al-ṣābūn*? It is only *al-ṣābi'ūn* (the Sabians)." It is also possible that it means those who step (*yatakhaṭṭawn*) from truth to falsehood and transgress the limits of Allah.

{So I swear by what you see * And what you do not see * Indeed, it is the word of a noble Messenger * And it is not the word of a poet; little do you believe * Nor the word of a soothsayer; little do you remember * [It is] a revelation from the Lord of the worlds}