Tafsir of Al-Muddathir 74:26

{سأصليه سقر}: This is a substitute (badal) for {سأرهقه صعودا} (Al-Muddaththir: 17).

{لا تبقي ولا تذر}: It leaves nothing that is cast into it without destroying it; and when it is destroyed, it does not leave it as such, but restores it to be destroyed again. Or, it spares nothing and leaves nothing behind; rather, everything cast into it is inevitably destroyed.

{لواحة}: Derived from the scorching heat of midday (al-hajir). It is said: "It scorches the skin with a scorching that leaves it blacker than the night." Al-bashar refers to the outer layers of the skin. Al-Hasan said: "It appears to people," similar to His saying: {Then you will surely see it with the eye of certainty} (At-Takathur: 7). It is also read as lawwāhatan in the accusative case (naṣb) as a specification (ikhtiṣāṣ) to emphasize the terror.

{عليها تسعة عشر}: Meaning, nineteen angels manage its affairs and have authority over its inhabitants. It is said they are a class of angels, or a description, or leaders. It is read as tisʿat ʿashar with a quiescent ʿayn due to the succession of vowels in what functions as a single noun. It is also read as tisʿat aʿshur, the plural of ʿashīr, like yamīn and ayman.

They are made angels because they are of a different species than the punished (jinn and humans), so they are not moved by the pity or tenderness that one feels for their own kind, nor do the punished find comfort in them. Furthermore, they are the most steadfast of God’s creation in upholding His right and the most intense in their wrath, ensuring their severity.

'Amr ibn Dinar said: "One of them, with a single push, casts more people into Hell than the tribes of Rabi'ah and Mudar." The Prophet (ﷺ) said: "Their eyes are like lightning, their mouths like spears, they drag their hair, and one of them possesses the strength of both worlds (jinn and mankind). One of them drives a nation while a mountain is upon his neck, and he throws them into the Fire along with the mountain."

When {عليها تسعة عشر} was revealed, Abu Jahl said to Quraysh: "May your mothers mourn you! I hear the son of Abu Kabshah telling you that the keepers of the Fire are nineteen, and you are the mighty ones. Is it impossible for every ten of you to overpower one of them?" Abu al-Ashadd ibn Usayd al-Jumahi, who was very strong, said: "I will suffice you against seventeen, and you suffice me against two." Then God revealed: {And We have not made the keepers of the Fire except angels}—meaning, We did not make them men of your species who could be overpowered.

If you ask: "The trial of the disbelievers by the number of the guardians was made a cause for the certainty of the People of the Book, the increase in faith of the believers, and the mockery of the disbelievers and hypocrites. How is this valid?" I say: The trial itself was not the cause; rather, the number itself was the cause. The meaning of {And We have not made their number except as a trial for those who disbelieve} is: "We have not made their number except nineteen." The phrase {a trial for those who disbelieve} is placed in the position of "nineteen," for the disbeliever objects and mocks, not submitting like the believer, even if the wisdom behind it is hidden from him. It is as if it were said: "We have made their number a number of such a nature that it serves as a trial," for the sake of the certainty of the believers, the confusion of the disbelievers, and the certainty of the People of the Book—because their number is nineteen in both previous Scriptures. When they heard the same in the Quran, they became certain it was sent from God. The believers increased in faith by believing this just as they believed everything else revealed, and by seeing the submission of the People of the Book.

If you ask: "Why did He say {and so that those who were given the Scripture and the believers may not doubt}, when certainty and increase in faith imply the absence of doubt?" I say: Because when the affirmation of certainty and the negation of doubt are combined, it is more emphatic and eloquent in describing their peace of mind and tranquility of heart. It also alludes to the state of those other than them, as if He said: "And so that their state may contrast with the state of the doubting, skeptical ones among the hypocrites and disbelievers."

If you ask: "How are those in whose hearts is a disease (the hypocrites) mentioned, when the Surah is Meccan and there was no hypocrisy in Mecca, as it only emerged in Medina?" I say: It means: "And so that the hypocrites who will emerge in the future in Medina after the Hijrah may say..." and the disbelievers in Mecca may say: {What did God intend by this as an example?}. This is merely informing of what will be, like other prophecies of the unseen, which does not contradict the Surah being Meccan. It is also possible that "disease" refers to doubt and skepticism, as most of the people of Mecca were doubters, and some were certain of falsehood.

If you ask: "You explained the number nineteen by certainty and the absence of doubt, but the speech of the hypocrites and disbelievers is an objective?" I say: The lam (in li-yastayqina) denotes cause and reason, and it is not necessary for a cause to be an objective. Do you not see your saying: "I left the city for fear of evil"? You made fear the cause of your leaving, but it is not your objective.

{مثلا}: This is a specification (tamyīz) or a state (ḥāl). If you ask: "Why did they call it an example (mathal)?" I say: It is a metaphor from a coined proverb, because it was strange and novel speech to them, as they found this number strange and bizarre. The meaning is: "What did God intend by this strange number, and what purpose did He have in making the angels nineteen rather than twenty?" Their intent was to deny it from its origin, claiming it is not from God, for if it were, it would not have come with this "deficient" number.

{كذلك}: The kaf is in the accusative case. "That" refers to the aforementioned meaning of misguidance and guidance. Meaning: "Like that which was mentioned of misguidance and guidance, He leads astray whom He wills and guides whom He wills." He acts in a manner based on wisdom and correctness; the believers see it as wisdom and submit, believing all of God's actions are wise, which increases their faith. The disbelievers deny it and doubt, which increases their disbelief and misguidance.

{وما يعلم جنود ربك}: And what is upon every troop of the specific number—why some are on a complete count and others on a deficient one, and the wisdom in the specialization of each troop—{except Him}. No one has a way to know this, just as one does not know the wisdom in the numbers of the heavens, the earths, the days of the year, the months, the zodiac signs, the stars, or the numbers of the rituals, limits, expiations, and prayers in the Sharia. Or: "No one knows the soldiers of your Lord due to their sheer multitude except Him," so it is not difficult for Him to make the keepers twenty, but He has wisdom in this specific number that you do not know, while He knows it. It is said this is a response to Abu Jahl's saying: "Does Muhammad's Lord have no helpers but nineteen?" and the phrase {And We have not made the keepers of the Fire...} to {except Him} is an interruption.

{وما هي إلا ذكرى}: This is connected to the description of Saqar, and "it" (hiya) is its pronoun. Meaning: "Saqar and its description are nothing but a reminder {for humanity}." Or, the pronoun refers to the verses in which it is mentioned.