Ad-Dukhan · Makki · ayah 48 of 59

Ad-Dukhan 44:48

ثُمَّ صُبُّوا۟ فَوْقَ رَأْسِهِۦ مِنْ عَذَابِ ٱلْحَمِيمِ

“Then pour over his head from the torment of scalding water."”

Saheeh International

Essence

Then the torment of scalding water is poured over the sinner's head, a punishment that does not leave him.

A reflection

Pour patience on us instead

Thumma ṣubbū fawqa raʾsihi min ʿadhābi al-ḥamīm: then pour over his head from the torment of scalding water.

The commentaries pause on an odd turn of phrase. One would expect: pour scalding water over his head. Instead the ayah says: pour the torment of scalding water. One linguistic commentary explains that pouring torment is a metaphor, used to make it more fearful. The torment itself becomes something poured.

And the commentaries point to a gentler use of the same metaphor. Another ayah has believers praying: our Lord, pour patience upon us (2:250). Pharaoh's magicians, facing torture for their new faith, prayed the same words. Our Lord, pour patience upon us, and let us die as Muslims (7:126).

The verb there is a different one, afrigh, empty out. But the picture is the same. Two things poured from above. One is torment. The other is patience.

A woman cares for her father, who has dementia. At three in the morning he is awake again, confused, calling for his wife who died years ago. She sits on the edge of his bed. She is exhausted. She has nothing left. Quietly, under her breath, she says: our Lord, pour patience on me. She does not feel it arrive like water. But she stays, and she is gentle, and somehow there is enough.

The ayah shows us what is poured on the one who refused Allah. The prayer of the believers shows what can be poured on the one who turns to Him.

Every hard night offers a choice of what to ask for. Ask Him to pour patience on you now, and to protect you from the other pouring later.

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.