An-Nazi'at · Makki · ayah 36 of 46

An-Nazi'at 79:36

وَبُرِّزَتِ ٱلْجَحِيمُ لِمَن يَرَىٰ

“And Hellfire will be exposed for [all] those who see -”

Saheeh International

Essence

What was hidden and argued about is brought out into open ground, where anyone with eyes can see it.

A reflection

Open ground with nowhere to hide

Two old armies face each other across a plain. Before the battle, a single champion rides out from one line into the empty ground between them and calls for an opponent. Everyone on both sides can see him. There is no cover out there, no tree, no hollow. He is in plain view.

The first hearers had words for that scene. Barāz was open ground with no trees or hollows for cover. To baraza was to go out into it. A champion 'came out' from the battle line to face one opponent; that was mubāraza. A horse pulling ahead of the rest had baraza. The root is coming into the open, appearing after being hidden. That image is established.

So burrizat al-jaḥīm is not simply 'Hell will be shown'. It is: brought out into open ground, set in full view, with nothing between it and those who look. One classical scholar explains: shown so plainly that everyone on the plain sees it. He compares a proverb: the dawn has become clear for anyone with two eyes.

The word for Hell here has its own picture. Jaḥīm was any great fire in a pit, fire stacked on fire and coal on coal, heat that feeds on itself. The lion's burning eyes were called from the same root.

Some argue that Hell is a myth, a scare story, something that cannot be proved. This ayah describes the end of that argument. What was hidden and debated comes out into the open. No one on that plain will need evidence.

That is why the Quran describes it now, in words. The description is itself a kind of barāz. The unseen is brought into view early, so that people can take a different road before they reach it. Nobody who has read this ayah can say they were not told.

When you read of the Fire in the Quran, do not look away. Look long enough to change direction, and then turn to the mercy that is described just as plainly.

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.