55:41 Ar-Rahmaan (The Beneficent)

وقال هنا: { يُعْرَفُ الْمُجْرِمُونَ بِسِيمَاهُمْ فَيُؤْخَذُ بِالنَّوَاصِي وَالْأَقْدَامِ } أي: فيؤخذ بنواصي المجرمين وأقدامهم، فيلقون في النار ويسحبون فيها، وإنما يسألهم تعالى سؤال توبيخ وتقرير بما وقع منهم، وهو أعلم به منهم، ولكنه تعالى يريد أن تظهر للخلق حجته البالغة، وحكمته الجليلة.

كما قال تعالى "يعرف المجرمون بسيماهم" أي بعلامات تظهر عليهم وقال الحسن وقتادة يعرفونهم باسوداد الوجوه وزرقة العيون "قلت" وهذا كما يعرف المؤمنون بالغرة والتحجيل من آثار الوضوء. وقوله تعالى "فيؤخذ بالنواصي والأقدام" أي يجمع الزبانية ناصيته مع قدميه ويلقونه في النار كذلك وقال الأعمش عن ابن عباس يؤخذ بناصيته وقدميه فيكسر كما يكسر الحطب في التنور وقال الضحاك يجمع بين ناصيته وقدميه في سلسلة من وراء ظهره وقال السدي يجمع بين ناصية الكافر وقدميه فتربط ناصيته بقدمه ويفتل ظهره. وقال ابن أبي حاتم حدثنا أبي حدثنا أبو توبة الربيع بن نافع حدثنا معاوية بن سلام عن أخيه زيد بن سلام أنه سمع أبا سلام يعني جده أخبرني عبدالرحمن حدثني رجل من كندة قال أتيت عائشة فدخلت عليها وبيني وبينها حجاب فقلت حدثك رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم أنه يأتي عليه ساعة لا يملك فيها لأحد شفاعة؟ قالت نعم لقد سألته عن هذا وأنا وهو فى شعار واحد قال "نعم حين يوضع الصراط لا أملك لأحد فيها شفاعة حتى أعلم أين يسلك بي ويوم تبيض وجوه وتسود وجوه حتى أنظر ماذا يفعل بي - أو قال يوحى - وعند الجسر حين يستحد ويستحر" فقالت وما يستحد وما يستحر؟ قال "يستحد حتى يكون مثل شفرة السيف ويستحر حتى يكون مثل الجمرة فأما المؤمن فيجوزه لا يضره وأما المنافق فيتعلق حتى إذا بلغ أوسطه خر من قدميه فيهوي بيديه إلى قدميه" قالت فهل رأيت من يسعى حافيا فتأخذه شوكة حتى تكاد تنفذ قدميه فإنها كذلك يهوي بيده ورأسه إلى قدميه فتضربه الزبانية بخطاف في ناصيته وقدمه فتقذفه في جهنم فيهوي فيها مقدار خمسين عاما قلت ما ثقل الرجل؟ قالت ثقل عشر خلفات سمان فيومئذ يعرف المجرمون بسيماهم فيؤخذ بالنواصي والأقدام. هذا حديث غريب جدا وفيه ألفاط منكر رفعها وفي الإسناد من لم يسم ومثله لا يحتج به والله أعلم.

The Horrors of the Day of Resurrection

Allah said,

فَإِذَا انشَقَّتِ السَّمَآءُ

(Then when the heaven is rent asunder,) on the Day of Resurrection; this meaning is clear in this and similar Ayat, such as,

وَانشَقَّتِ السَّمَآءُ فَهِىَ يَوْمَئِذٍ وَاهِيَةٌ

(And the heaven will be rent asunder, for that Day it (the heaven) will be frail and torn up.)(69:16),

وَيَوْمَ تَشَقَّقُ السَّمَآءُ بِالْغَمَـمِ وَنُزِّلَ الْمَلَـئِكَةُ تَنزِيلاً

(And (remember) the Day when the heaven shall be rent asunder with clouds, and the angels will be sent down, with a grand descending.)(25:25) and,

إِذَا السَّمَآءُ انشَقَّتْ - وَأَذِنَتْ لِرَبِّهَا وَحُقَّتْ

(When the heaven is split asunder, and listens to and obeys its Lord -- and it must do so.)(84:1-2) Allah's statement,

فَكَانَتْ وَرْدَةً كَالدِّهَانِ

(and it becomes Wardah like Dihan.) This means they will melt just as sediment and silver are melted when heated. And they will be colored, just as dies stain something, sometimes red, sometimes yellow, or blue, or green. This demonstrates the extent of the horrors of the Mighty Day of Resurrection. As-Suddi said, "It will be as rosy color and as filth oil." Mujahid said

كَالدِّهَانِ

(like Dihan), "Like the colors of dyes." Allah said;

فَيَوْمَئِذٍ لاَّ يُسْـَلُ عَن ذَنبِهِ إِنسٌ وَلاَ جَآنٌّ

(So on that Day he will not be questioned about his sins, (neither) human nor Jinn.) this is similar to His saying;

هَـذَا يَوْمُ لاَ يَنطِقُونَ - وَلاَ يُؤْذَنُ لَهُمْ فَيَعْتَذِرُونَ

(That will be a Day when they shall not speak, and they will not be permitted to put forth any excuse.)(77:35-36) This is the case at the time, then all the creatures will be questioned about their deeds. Allah said;

فَوَرَبِّكَ لَنَسْـَلَنَّهُمْ أَجْمَعِينَ - عَمَّا كَانُواْ يَعْمَلُونَ

(So, by your Lord, We shall certainly call all of them to account. For all that they used to do.)(15:92-93) Qatadah said, "On that they will be questioned and then their mouths will be sealed and their hands and feet will reveal what they used to do." Allah the Exalted said,

يُعْرَفُ الْمُجْرِمُونَ بِسِيمَـهُمْ

(The criminals will be known by their marks,) i.e., by special marks that distinguish them. Al-Hasan and Qatadah said, "They will be known by their dark faces and their blue eyes." I say that this contrasts to the marks that will distinguish the believers, such as the light that will appear on the parts of the body that they used to wash while performing ablution. Allah said,

فَيُؤْخَذُ بِالنَّوَاصِى وَالاٌّقْدَامِ

(and they will be seized by their foreheads and feet.) meaning, the angels of punishment will bend their heads down to their feet and throw them like this into the Hellfire. Al-A`mash said that Ibn `Abbas said, "He will be taken by his forehead and his feet and be broken just as a stick is broken to be thrown into an oven." Allah said,

هَـذِهِ جَهَنَّمُ الَّتِى يُكَذِّبُ بِهَا الْمُجْرِمُونَ

(This is the Hell which the criminals denied.) meaning, `this is the Fire that you used to deny existed that it; now you see it before your eyes!' While being chastised, criticized, disgraced and belittled, this will be said to the disbelievers.

يَطُوفُونَ بَيْنَهَا وَبَيْنَ حَمِيمٍ ءَانٍ

(They will go between it and Hamim An!) meaning, they will sometimes be punished with fire and they will sometimes be given Hamim which is a drink like molten copper tearing their intestines and internal organs,

إِذِ الاٌّغْلَـلُ فِى أَعْنَـقِهِمْ والسَّلَـسِلُ يُسْحَبُونَ - فِى الْحَمِيمِ ثُمَّ فِى النَّارِ يُسْجَرُونَ

(When the iron collars will be rounded over their necks, and the chains, they shall be dragged along, in the Hamim, then they will be burned in the Fire.)(40:71-72) Allah said

ءَانٍ

(An) meaning hot, due to the fierce and intense heat that is impossible to bear. Ibn `Abbas said;

يَطُوفُونَ بَيْنَهَا وَبَيْنَ حَمِيمٍ ءَانٍ

(They will go between it and Hamim An!) "That has reached the ultimate temperature and boiling fiercely." Similar was said by Mujahid, Sa`id bin Jubayr, Ad-Dahhak, Al-Hasan, Ath-Thawri and As-Suddi. Qatadah also commented, "Its boiling started when Allah created the heavens and the earth!" Muhammad bin Ka`b Al-Qurazi said, "The (disobedient) servant will be seized by the forehead and stirred in that boiling water until his flesh melts and only the bones and the eyes in his head remain. This is the meaning of Allah's statement,

فِى الْحَمِيمِ ثُمَّ فِى النَّارِ يُسْجَرُونَ

(In the Hamim, then they will be burned in the Fire.)(40:72) And Al-Hamim Al-An means hot." There is another report from Al-Qurazi;

حَمِيمٍ ءَانٍ

(Hamim An) that it means "prepared. " This is also the view of Ibn Zayd. And saying that it means "prepared" does not contradict the first report from Al-Qurazi which says that it means hot, for Allah said:

تُسْقَى مِنْ عَيْنٍ ءَانِيَةٍ

(They will be given to drink from a spring, Aniyah.) (88:5) which means severe unbearable heat, and His saying;

غَيْرَ نَـظِرِينَ إِنَـهُ

(not to wait for it to be prepared)(33:53) which means properly cooking and preparing it. So His saying;

حَمِيمٍ ءَانٍ

(Hamim An.) Hamim, that is very hot. Surely, punishing the disobedient criminals as well as favoring those who had Taqwa, is from Allah's grace, mercy, justice, compassion and kindness for His creatures. His warnings against His torment and punishment, such as mentioned in these Ayat, should encourage all creatures to abandon the Shirk and disobedience they engage in, and this is why Allah reminded them of this favor;

فَبِأَىِّ ءَالاءِ رَبِّكُمَا تُكَذِّبَانِ

(Then which of the blessings of your Lord will you both deny)

The guilty will be recognised by their mark blackened faces and bruised eyes; so they will be seized by the forelocks and the feet.

يُعْرَ‌فُ الْمُجْرِ‌مُونَ بِسِيمَاهُمْ فَيُؤْخَذُ بِالنَّوَاصِي وَالْأَقْدَامِ (The guilty ones will be recognized [ by the angels ] by their marks and will be seized by foreheads and feet...55:41). The word sima means 'a sign'. Hasan Basri (رح) says that the day when sentence will be passed against the guilty to go to Hell, the following will be their signs: They will be known by their dark faces and their blue eyes. Through grief their faces will turn pale. The angels will recognize the guilty by these signs and seize them.

The word نَّوَاصِي nawasi is the plural of نَاصِیۃُ nasiyah, and means 'forelock'. Some will be dragged by their forelocks, and others will be dragged by their feet. Or it could mean that sometimes they will be dragged by their forelocks and at other times they will be dragged by their feet. The third explanation could be that the angels of punishment will bend their foreheads down to their feet and tie the forelocks to the feet, and throw them into the Hellfire. Allah knows best!