21 [al-Anbiyaa, Mecca 73]
The Quranic Text & Ali’s Version:
إِنَّكُمْ
وَمَا
تَعْبُدُونَ
مِن
دُونِ
اللَّهِ
حَصَبُ
جَهَنَّمَ...
21: 98. Verily ye, (Unbelievers), and the (false) gods that ye worship besides Allah, are (but) fuel for Hell!
...أَنتُمْ لَهَا وَارِدُونَ ﴿٩٨﴾
To it will ye (surely) come!
لَوْ
كَانَ
هَؤُلَاء
آلِهَةً
مَّا
وَرَدُوهَا...
21: 99. If these had been gods, they would not have got there!
C2755. The ultimate proof of Truth and Falsehood will be that Truth will endure and come to its own, while Falsehood will be destroyed.
And so the men who worshipped Truth will come to their own, while those who worshipped Falsehood will be in a Fire of Punishment they could scarcely have imagined before. In that state there will be nothing but regrets and sighs and groans, and these evil sounds will drown everything else.
...وَكُلٌّ فِيهَا خَالِدُونَ ﴿٩٩﴾
But each one will abide therein.
لَهُمْ
فِيهَا
زَفِيرٌ
وَهُمْ
فِيهَا
لَا
يَسْمَعُونَ
﴿١٠٠﴾
21: 100. There, sobbing will be their lot, nor will they there hear (aught else).
Asad’s Version:
21:98 [Then they will be told:] "Verily, you and all that you [were wont to] worship instead of God are but the fuel of hell: that is what you are destined for.' 6
(21:99) If those [false objects of your worship] had truly been divine, they would not have been destined for it: but [as it is, you] all shall abide therein!"
21:100
Moaning will be their lot therein, and nothing [else] will they hear therein."
[[ Asad’s notes - 96 Lit., "you are bound to reach it". The expression "all that you have worshipped instead of God" comprises not merely all false religious imagery but also all false ethical values endowed with
quasi-divine sanctity, all of which are but "the fuel of hell".
97 Thus, spiritual "deafness" in the life to come will be the inexorable consequence of one's having remained deaf, in this world, to the voice of truth, just as "blindness" and oblivion will be part
of the saffering of all who have been spiritually blind to the truth (cf. 20:124-126).
98 I.e., those who have been promised paradise on account of their faith and their good deeds.
99 See in this connection 14:48 and the corresponding note 63. ]]