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Surah 22. Al-Hajj
Ayah 19 - 24
١٩. هَـٰذَانِ خَصْمَانِ ٱخْتَصَمُوا۟ فِى رَبِّهِمْ ۖ فَٱلَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا۟ قُطِّعَتْ لَهُمْ ثِيَابٌ مِّن نَّارٍ يُصَبُّ مِن فَوْقِ رُءُوسِهِمُ ٱلْحَمِيمُ
٢٠. يُصْهَرُ بِهِۦ مَا فِى بُطُونِهِمْ وَٱلْجُلُودُ
٢١. وَلَهُم مَّقَـٰمِعُ مِنْ حَدِيدٍ
٢٢. كُلَّمَآ أَرَادُوٓا۟ أَن يَخْرُجُوا۟ مِنْهَا مِنْ غَمٍّ أُعِيدُوا۟ فِيهَا وَذُوقُوا۟ عَذَابَ ٱلْحَرِيقِ
٢٣. إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ يُدْخِلُ ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوا۟ وَعَمِلُوا۟ ٱلصَّـٰلِحَـٰتِ جَنَّـٰتٍ تَجْرِى مِن تَحْتِهَا ٱلْأَنْهَـٰرُ يُحَلَّوْنَ فِيهَا مِنْ أَسَاوِرَ مِن ذَهَبٍ وَلُؤْلُؤًا ۖ وَلِبَاسُهُمْ فِيهَا حَرِيرٌ
٢٤. وَهُدُوٓا۟ إِلَى ٱلطَّيِّبِ مِنَ ٱلْقَوْلِ وَهُدُوٓا۟ إِلَىٰ صِرَٰطِ ٱلْحَمِيدِ
[19-24] These are the two parties who have disputed about their Lord.36 As regards those who have disbelieved, garments of fire have already been cut out for them;37 over their heads shall be poured boiling water, which will melt not only their skins but also the inner parts of their bellies and there shall be maces of iron to lash them. Whenever in their anguish they will try to come out of Hell, they shall be driven back into it (with the rebuke): "Taste now the torment of burning." As regards those, who believed and did righteous works, Allah will admit them into Gardens underneath which canals will be flowing: there they will be decorated with golden bracelets and pearls,38 and their garments will be of silk'. (This is because) they were guided to accept the pure Word,39 and shown the Way of the All Praiseworthy.40
36Here all the disputants about Allah have been divided into two main categories in spite of their large numbers:
(1) Those who believe in the Message of the Prophets and adopt the righteous way of life.
(2) Those who reject their Message and follow different ways of disbelief, though they may have countless differences and disputes among themselves.
37See v. 50 and E.N. 58 of Chapter XIV (Ibrahim) for explanation.
38This is to show that they will be honored like the kings and chiefs who used to wear ornaments of gold and jewelry in the period the Qur'an was revealed.
39"Pure Word": though it may imply every pure thing, here it refers to the basic articles of the Faith.
40As already stated in the Introduction, the portion of the Surah, which was sent down at Makkah, comes to an end here. Though its style is clearly that of the Makki Surahs and there is nothing to indicate that any part (or the whole) of it was revealed at al-Madinah, yet the words, "these are the two parties", have given rise to the misunderstanding that this verse was revealed at al-Madinah. Some commentators are of the opinion that the two parties referred to were the parties who met in the Battle of Badr, but there is nothing in the context to support this opinion. On the other hand, from the context in which these words occur, it becomes obvious that the two parties referred to were the "Believers and the disbelievers." For the conflict between Belief and disbelief has always been going on ever since the creation of man and will go on upto the Day of Resurrection.
Incidentally, this latter view helps prove that the Qur'an is a continuous whole and every part of it is closely connected with the other: whereas the comments mentioned earlier would imply that there is no continuous theme in the Qur'an but different parts of it have been put together without rhyme or reason.