Tafsir of Al-Muddathir 74:38

{Every soul is, for what it has earned, a pledge (rahīnah)}

It is not the feminine form of rahīn (pledged) as in the verse: "Every person is, for what he has earned, a pledge (rahīn)" (Al-Ṭūr: 21), due to the femininity of the word nafs (soul). If the intent were the adjective, it would have been said rahīn, because the pattern faʿīl in the sense of mafʿūl (passive participle) is used equally for both masculine and feminine. Rather, it is a noun meaning al-rahn (the pledge/mortgage), like shatīmah (insult) in the sense of shatm. It is as if it were said: "Every soul is a pledge for what it has earned." From this is the verse from the Ḥamāsah:

After the one who is at the mountain pass—the pass of Kuwaykib— Is a pledge (rahīnah) of a grave, possessing soil and stones.

It is as if he said: "A pledge of a grave." The meaning is: Every soul is a pledge for its earnings with God, not released.

{Except the Companions of the Right} They have freed their necks from it through the good deeds they earned, just as a pledger redeems his pledge by fulfilling the right. It is narrated from Ali (may God be pleased with him) that he interpreted the "Companions of the Right" as children, because they have no deeds for which they are held as pledges. Ibn Abbas (may God be pleased with him) said: They are the angels.

{In Gardens, questioning one another about the criminals} Some of them ask others about them, or they ask others about them, like saying: "I called him" and "We called out to one another."

If you ask: How does the statement {What has led you into Saqar?}—which is a question directed to the criminals—correspond to the statement {questioning one another about the criminals}—which is a question about them? It would only correspond if it were said: "They ask the criminals: 'What has led you...?'"

I say: "What has led you..." is not an explanation of the questioning about them; rather, it is a narration of what the questioned ones say about them. The questioned ones convey to the questioners what transpired between them and the criminals, saying: "We said to them: 'What has led you into Saqar?' They said: 'We were not of those who prayed.'" The speech is brought with omission and brevity, as is the path of the Revelation in the strangeness of its composition.

Al-Khawḍ (The plunging): Engaging in falsehood and what is not appropriate.

If you ask: Why do they ask them when they already know? I say: To rebuke and grieve them, and so that God’s narration of this in His Book serves as a reminder to the listeners. Some have supported the interpretation of the "Companions of the Right" as children by saying: They only asked them because they are children who do not know what necessitates entry into the Fire.

If you ask: Do they mean that each one of them entered the Fire by the combination of these four [sins], or that some entered by this and others by that? I say: Both are possible.

If you ask: Why did He delay "denial" (al-takdhīb), even though it is the greatest of them? I say: They meant that after all of that, they were deniers of the Day of Judgment, to emphasize the denial. Like His saying: "Then he was of those who believed" (Al-Balad: 17).

{And the Certainty (al-yaqīn)} Death and its precursors. Meaning: If all the intercessors—from the angels, the prophets, and others—were to intercede for them, their intercession would not benefit them, because intercession is for those whom God has approved, and these are those with whom He is displeased. In this is evidence that intercession does benefit on that day, for it increases the ranks of those who are approved.

{So what is the matter with them, that they turn away from the Reminder? As if they were startled donkeys, fleeing from a lion. Rather, every person among them desires that he be given scrolls spread out. No! But they do not fear the Hereafter. No! Indeed, it is a Reminder. So whoever wills may remember it. And they will not remember except that God wills. He is worthy of fear and worthy of forgiveness.}