Al-Mutaffifin · Makki · ayah 16 of 36

Al-Mutaffifin 83:16

ثُمَّ إِنَّهُمْ لَصَالُوا۟ ٱلْجَحِيمِ

“Then indeed, they will [enter and] burn in Hellfire.”

Saheeh International

Essence

After losing the Lord, what is left is the fire: heat that feeds on itself, like the greed that once fed on the scales.

A reflection

"Isn't Hell unfair?"

The objection deserves its full weight. How can a finite life lead to such a punishment? Isn't a loving God supposed to forgive?

Start with the order of the ayat. The Fire comes after the veil (83:15), joined by thumma, 'then'. And the veil came after the rust (83:14), which came after a lifetime of earning it. Before that came the labelling of every verse recited to them (83:13). The surah has spent ten ayat showing a road, walked step by step, with warnings at every turn. The Fire is where the road ends, not a trap sprung on a passer-by.

Think of a football club relegated on the last day of the season. The manager calls the final match unfair. But relegation was not decided by one match. It was the sum of thirty-eight, each one a chance to change course.

The Quran describes the record being laid open on that Day. The guilty will say, 'Woe to us. What is this book that leaves nothing small or great without counting it?' They will find what they did present. 'And your Lord does not wrong anyone' (18:49). The same Lord said, in a hadith qudsi, 'My mercy outstrips My anger' (Sahih al-Bukhari). Mercy is the first word in His dealing with us, and it is offered until the last breath.

What remains open is hard, and it is honest to say so. We cannot fully weigh eternity from inside time. But we are told plainly that no one there will be wronged. Everyone there will have walked past more open doors than they can count.

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.