Sad · Makki · ayah 58 of 88

Sad 38:58

وَءَاخَرُ مِن شَكْلِهِۦٓ أَزْوَٰجٌ

“And other [punishments] of its type [in various] kinds.”

Saheeh International

Essence

After two named drinks the list stops naming: others of the same kind, in pairs and varieties, left beyond any picture we could draw.

A reflection

The list that stops naming

A family sit with a hospital consultant before an operation. She lists the risks clearly: infection, bleeding, a reaction to the anaesthetic. Then the father asks, 'And what else?' She pauses. 'Other things, rarer,' she says. The room goes quieter at those two words than at anything she named.

This ayah is built the same way. Two drinks have just been named: scalding water and ghassāq. Then the naming stops. 'And others of its kind, in varieties.' One early scholar commented that Allah had mentioned chains, shackles and things known in this world. Then He said 'and others of its kind': others never seen in this world.

There are two canonical readings here. One reads ākhar, 'another', singular. Another reads ukhar, 'others', plural. Both are accepted, and one commentator notes the singular can carry a plural sense. A single further punishment, or a whole family of them: the text holds both.

The same silence is kept about the Garden. Sahih al-Bukhari and Sahih Muslim report Allah's words about what He has prepared for His righteous servants. It is what no eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no heart has imagined. The Quran describes enough of both destinations to be understood, and leaves the rest beyond words.

So the unnamed is not a gap in the warning. It is the warning at its most honest. Whatever you picture, the reality is larger. That is why the wise do not haggle over details. They simply take the road away from it.

The full entry has 5 more reflections, questions to sit with, and "Live it today" - with the words, the roots and the tafsir alongside. Free, no account, works offline.