77:30 Al-Mursalaat (The Emissaries)

{ انْطَلِقُوا إِلَى ظِلٍّ ذِي ثَلَاثِ شُعَبٍ } أي: إلى ظل نار جهنم، التي تتمايز في خلاله ثلاث شعب أي: قطع من النار أي: تتعاوره وتتناوبه وتجتمع به.

يعني لهب النار إذا ارتفع وصعد معه دخان فمن شدته وقوته أن له ثلاث شعب.

The driving of the Criminals to their Final Abode in Hell and how it will be done

Allah informs about the disbelievers who deny the final abode, the recompense, Paradise, and the Hellfire. On the Day of Judgement it will be said to them:

انطَلِقُواْ إِلَى مَا كُنتُمْ بِهِ تُكَذِّبُونَ - انطَلِقُواْ إِلَى ظِلٍّ ذِى ثَلَـثِ شُعَبٍ

(Depart you to that which you used to deny! Depart you to a shadow in three columns,) meaning, a flame of fire when it rises and ascends with smoke. So due to its severity and strength, it will have three columns.

لاَّ ظَلِيلٍ وَلاَ يُغْنِى مِنَ اللَّهَبِ

(Neither shady nor of any use against the fierce flame of the Fire.) meaning, shade of the smoke that comes from the flame -- which itself will not have a shade, nor will it benefit against the flame. This means it will not protect them from the heat of the flame. Allah said,

إِنَّهَا تَرْمِى بِشَرَرٍ كَالْقَصْرِ

(Verily, it throws sparks as Al-Qasr,) meaning, its sparks will shoot out from its flame like huge castles. Ibn Mas`ud said, "Like forts." Ibn `Abbas, Mujahid, Qatadah and Malik who reported from Zayd bin Aslam and others said, "This means the trunk of trees."

كَأَنَّهُ جِمَـلَةٌ صُفْرٌ

(As if they were Sufr camels.) means, black camels. This is the view of Mujahid, Al-Hasan, Qatadah, and Ad-Dahhak, and Ibn Jarir favored this view. Ibn `Abbas Mujahid, and Sa`id bin Jubayr said about,

جِمَـلَةٌ صُفْرٌ

(Sufr camels.) "Meaning ropes of ships."

إِنَّهَا تَرْمِى بِشَرَرٍ كَالْقَصْرِ

(Verily, it (Hell) throws sparks as Al-Qasr.) Imam Al-Bukhari recorded from Ibn `Abbas that he said: "We were directed to the timber a length of three cubits or more in order to use it for construction of buildings. We used to call it Al-Qasr.

كَأَنَّهُ جِمَـلَةٌ صُفْرٌ

(As if they were Sufr camels.) These (Jimalat) are ropes of ships that are bundled until they resemble the intestines of men."

وَيْلٌ يَوْمَئِذٍ لِّلْمُكَذِّبِينَ

(Woe that Day to the deniers!)

The Inability of the Criminals to speak, make Excuses, or step forward on the Day of Judgement

Then Allah says,

هَـذَا يَوْمُ لاَ يَنطِقُونَ

(That will be a Day when they shall not speak,) meaning, they will not speak.

وَلاَ يُؤْذَنُ لَهُمْ فَيَعْتَذِرُونَ

(And they will not be permitted to put forth any excuse.) meaning, they will not be able to speak, nor will they be granted permission to speak so that they can make excuses. Rather, the proof will be established against them, and they will be called upon to speak about the wrong that they did, but they will not be able to say anything. The courts of the Day of Judgement will occur in stages. Sometimes the Lord informs of this stage and sometimes He informs of that stage. This is to show the terrors and calamities of that Day. Thus, after all the details of this discussion, He says:

وَيْلٌ يَوْمَئِذٍ لِّلْمُكَذِّبِينَ

(Woe that Day to the deniers!) Then Allah says,

هَـذَا يَوْمُ الْفَصْلِ جَمَعْنَـكُمْ وَالاٌّوَّلِينَ - فَإِن كَانَ لَكمُ كَيْدٌ فَكِيدُونِ

(That will be a Day of Decision! We have brought you and the men of old together! So if you have a plot, use it against Me!) This is an address from the Creator to His servants. He says to them,

هَـذَا يَوْمُ الْفَصْلِ جَمَعْنَـكُمْ وَالاٌّوَّلِينَ

(That will be a Day of Decision! We have brought you and the men of old together!) meaning, He will gather all of them by His power on one common plane, He will make them hear the caller and He will cause them to see. Then He says,

فَإِن كَانَ لَكمُ كَيْدٌ فَكِيدُونِ

(So, if you have a plot, use it against Me!) This is a serious threat and a harsh warning. It means, `if you are able to save yourselves from being seized by Me, and rescue yourselves from My ruling, then do so. But you are certainly not able to do so.' This is as Allah says,

يمَعْشَرَ الْجِنِّ وَالإِنسِ إِنِ اسْتَطَعْتُمْ أَن تَنفُذُواْ مِنْ أَقْطَـرِ السَّمَـوَتِ وَالاٌّرْضِ فَانفُذُواْ لاَ تَنفُذُونَ إِلاَّ بِسُلْطَـنٍ

(O assembly of Jinn and men! If you have power to pass beyond the zones of the heavens and the earth, then pass beyond (them)! But you will never be able to pass them, except with authority (from Allah)!) (55:33) Allah also says,

وَلاَ تَضُرُّونَهُ شَيْئًا

(And you will not harm Him in the least.) (11:57) It is narrated in a Hadith (that Allah said),

«يَا عِبَادِي، إِنَّكُمْ لَنْ تَبْلُغُوا نَفْعِي فَتَنْفَعُونِي، وَلَنْ تَبْلُغُوا ضَرِّي فَتَضُرُّونِي»

("O My servants! You all can never attain My benefit and thereby benefit Me, and you all can never attain My harm and thereby harm Me.")

Depart to a triple-forked shadow — this is the smoke of Hell which as it rises splits into three parts because of its magnitude —

أَلَمْ نَجْعَلِ الْأَرْ‌ضَ كِفَاتًا أَحْيَاءً وَأَمْوَاتًا (Did We not make the earth a container that collects the living and the dead?....25, 26) The word kit is derived from kaft. It means 'to gather things together'. Thus kit is a thing that embodies many things within itself. Earth is created by Allah in a fashion that humans when alive, remain on its back, and when dead, in its belly.