Ghafir · Makki · ayah 76 of 85

Ghafir 40:76

ٱدْخُلُوٓا۟ أَبْوَٰبَ جَهَنَّمَ خَـٰلِدِينَ فِيهَا ۖ فَبِئْسَ مَثْوَى ٱلْمُتَكَبِّرِينَ

“Enter the gates of Hell to abide eternally therein, and wretched is the residence of the arrogant."”

Saheeh International

Essence

Enter the gates of Hell, to remain there: how wretched a lodging for those too proud for the truth.

A reflection

A guest shown to the worst room

Fa-biʾsa mathwā al-mutakabbirīn. How wretched is the lodging of the arrogant.

The word mathwā comes from th-w-y, and its root picture is about hospitality. The lexicons describe it as the lodging a traveller is shown to and settles in. The man and woman of the house where a guest stays are called abū al-mathwā and umm mathwāh, the father and mother of the lodging. The lexicons also use the word of the grave. This is established.

So the ayah frames the end of the arrogant in the language of a guest arriving. A concise commentary glosses it: a refuge. A modern commentary says: how evil a lodging Hell is for those arrogant towards Allah in this world.

The contrast with the believers is sharp. In the very next surah, angels tell believers what awaits them. It is nuzul, a hospitable welcome, from One Forgiving and Merciful (41:32). Both groups arrive somewhere as guests. One is received by mercy. The other is shown to the worst room imaginable.

A backpacker arrives late at night at a crowded hostel. Every good bed is taken. She is shown to the only one left: by the door, under a pipe that drips all night. She lies awake thinking that she should have booked ahead.

That is a small picture of the ayah's irony. The arrogant spent their lives in the best rooms of this world. They never prepared for their real arrival.

The phrase appears almost word for word in Surah al-Zumar (39:72) and Surah al-Nahl (16:29). In al-Zumar, it is followed at once by the believers being led to Paradise, its gates opened, and greeted with peace (39:73).

Every person is a traveller, heading to a lodging. The Quran tells us both rooms in advance, so we can book the right one.

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.