Az-Zumar · Makki · ayah 40 of 75

Az-Zumar 39:40

مَن يَأْتِيهِ عَذَابٌ يُخْزِيهِ وَيَحِلُّ عَلَيْهِ عَذَابٌ مُّقِيمٌ

“To whom will come a torment disgracing him and on whom will descend an enduring punishment."”

Saheeh International

Essence

What 'you will come to know' points to: one punishment that arrives and shames, and another that unpacks and stays.

A reflection

A punishment that arrives, and one that moves in

The ayah names two punishments and gives each its own verb. The first comes to a person, yaʾtīhi, and disgraces him. The second alights on him, yaḥillu, and it is muqīm, staying.

The commentaries read them as two different things. The first is in this world. Several name it as the defeat at Badr, where those who had threatened the Prophet ﷺ were humbled. The second is the Fire, lasting and unbroken.

The verb for the second carries a picture the first hearers knew well. The root of yaḥillu means to untie a knot. A traveller ties his loads tight for the road. When he reaches the place he means to stay, he unties them. So ḥalla came to mean to halt and settle, the lexicons say.

Then muqīm finishes the picture. It is the one who stays put, the resident rather than the passer-by.

So the contrast is between a visitor and a lodger. The first punishment knocks, does its damage and leaves. The second unpacks its bags, unrolls its bedding and settles in for good.

That is why the warning is merciful in its own way. It describes the visitor so that nobody has to meet the lodger.

The full entry has 2 more reflections, questions to sit with, and "Live it today" - with the words, the roots and the tafsir alongside. Free, no account, works offline.