38 Surah Sad
The Quranic Text & Ali’s Version:
هَذَا...
38: 55. Yea, such!
... وَإِنَّ لِلطَّاغِينَ لَشَرَّ مَآبٍ ﴿٥٥﴾
But -- for the wrongdoers will be an evil place of (final) Return!
C4211. This is in parallel contrast to the state of the Blessed in 38:49 above.
جَهَنَّمَ...
38: 56. Hell! --
... يَصْلَوْنَهَا...
they will burn therein --
... فَبِئْسَ الْمِهَادُ ﴿٥٦﴾
an evil bed (indeed, to lie on)! --
C4212. Cf. 14:29.
This continues the parallel contrast to the state of the Blessed already described.
هَذَا...
38: 57. Yea, such! --
... فَلْيَذُوقُوهُ حَمِيمٌ وَغَسَّاقٌ ﴿٥٧﴾
then shall they taste it -- a boiling fluid, and a fluid dark, murky, intensely cold! --
The conjunction of the boiling fluid with the dark, murky, intensely cold fluid heightens the effect of the Penalty.
In place of harmony, there is the discord of extreme opposites. And the discord is not confined to this: it runs through the whole idea of Hell.
See the next verse.
وَآخَرُ
مِن
شَكْلِهِ
أَزْوَاجٌ
﴿٥٨﴾
38: 58. And other Penalties of a similar kind, to match them!
هَذَا
فَوْجٌ
مُّقْتَحِمٌ
مَّعَكُمْ...
38: 59. Here is a troop rushing headlong with you!
C4214. The wonder is that so many people should embrace Evil, and in so much hurry and eagerness! Here they may be welcomed by the leaders of Evil, but in the final state it will be the opposite of welcome. They will be followed with reproaches and curses.
... لَا مَرْحَبًا بِهِمْ... ... ...
No welcome for them!
... إِنَّهُمْ صَالُوا النَّارِ ﴿٥٩﴾
Truly, they shall burn in the Fire!
قَالُوا
بَلْ
أَنتُمْ
لَا
مَرْحَبًا
بِكُمْ...
38: 60. (The followers shall cry to the misleaders:)
"Nay, ye (too)!
No welcome for you!
... أَنتُمْ قَدَّمْتُمُوهُ لَنَا ... ...
It is ye who have brought this upon us!
C4215. It is the nature of Evil to shift the blame on to others. The followers will reproach the leaders, but none can escape personal responsibility for his own acts and deeds!
... فَبِئْسَ الْقَرَارُ ﴿٦٠﴾
Now evil is (this) place to stay in!"
قَالُوا
رَبَّنَا
مَن
قَدَّمَ
لَنَا
هَذَا
فَزِدْهُ
عَذَابًا
ضِعْفًا
فِي
النَّارِ
﴿٦١﴾
38: 61. They will say:
"Our Lord! Whoever brought this upon us, add to him a double Penalty in the fire!"
C4216. Cf. 7:38, and n. 1019. See also 11:20.
The evil ones now vent their spite on others. Here they ask for a double penalty for their misleaders, but they forget their own personal responsibility.
In the next verse, they express their surprise that others have escaped the torments, which they themselves have earned!
وَقَالُوا
مَا
لَنَا
لَا
نَرَى
رِجَالًا
كُنَّا
نَعُدُّهُم
مِّنَ
الْأَشْرَارِ
﴿٦٢﴾
38: 62. And they will say:
"What has happened to us that we see not men whom we used to number among the bad ones?
C4217. The bad ones: i.e., the ones whom they (evil ones) ridiculed as fools sure to come to an evil end, because they refused to join in with the evil ones in their plots. The values are now reversed.
The good ones are among the Blessed, and are not to be seen in the "Bed of Misery". The ridicule is now against the evil ones.
أَتَّخَذْنَاهُمْ
سِخْرِيًّا
أَمْ
زَاغَتْ
عَنْهُمُ
الْأَبْصَارُ
﴿٦٣﴾
38: 63. "Did we treat them (as such) in ridicule or have (our) eyes failed to perceive them?"
إِنَّ
ذَلِكَ
لَحَقٌّ
تَخَاصُمُ
أَهْلِ
النَّارِ
﴿٦٤﴾
38: 64. Truly that is just and fitting, the mutual recriminations of the People of the Fire!
C4218. The mutual recriminations and spite are themselves a part of the Penalty, for such feelings increase their unhappiness.
Asad’s Version:
38:55) All this [for the righteous]: but, verily, the most evil of all goals awaits those who are wont to transgress the bounds of what is right:
(38:56) hell will they have to endure - and how vile a resting-place !
38:57 This, [then, for them -] so let them taste it: burning despair and ice-cold darkness
(38:58) and, coupled with it, further [suffering] of a similar nature. 47
(38:59) [And they will say to One another: "Do you see] this crowd of people who rushed headlong [into sin] with you?'" No welcome to them! Verily, they [too] shall have to endure the fire!" 4 '
38:60 [And] they [who had been seduced] will exclaim: "Nay, but it is you! No welcome to you! It is you who have prepared this for us: and how vile a state to abide in!"
{38:61) [And] they will pray: "O our Sustainer! Whoever has prepared this for us, double Thou his suffering in the fire
38:62 And they will add: "How is it that we do not see [here any of the] men whom we were wont to count among the wicked,
(38:63) [and] whom we made the target of our derision? 51 Or is it that [they are here, and) our eyes have missed them?"
38:64) Such, behold, will in truth be the [confusion and) mutual wrangling of the people of the fire!
47 Lit., "of its kind": i.e., corresponding in intensity to what the Qur'an describes as hamim and ghassaq. For my rendering of hamim as "burning despair", see surah 6, note 62. The term ghassaq, on the other hand, is derived from the verb ghasaqa, "it became dark" or "intensely dark" (Taj al- 'Arus); thus, al-ghasiq denotes "black darkness" and, tropically, "the night" or, rather, "the black night". According to some authorities, the form ghassaq signifies "intense [or "icy"] cold". A combination of
these two meanings gives us the concept of the "ice-cold darkness" of the spirit which, together with "burning despair" (hamim), will characterize the suffering of inveterate sinners in the life to come. All other interpretations of the term ghassaq are purely speculative and, therefore, irrelevant.
48 I.e., "people whom you had seduced, and who thereupon blindly followed you" : an apostrophe stressing the double responsibility of the seducers,
49 In Arabic usage, the phrase "no welcome to them" or "to you" (la marhaban bihim, resp. bihum) is equivalent to a curse. In this context - carried on into the next verse - it expresses a mutual disavowal of the seducers and the seduced.
50 Cf. 7:38 (and the corresponding notes 28 and 29) as well as 33 :67-68.
51 I.e., the prophets and the righteous, who - as the Qur'an points out in many places - have always been derided by people enamoured of the life of this world and, therefore, averse to all moral exhortation.