A comparable case is the Quranic statements about the rising and setting of the sun, the moon, and the stars. Should some sophistical ignoramus insist, “The verse, ‘Until, when he reached the setting-place of the sun, he found it setting in a dark, muddy spring’ (Al-Kahf 18:86)—which he takes to mean that with the naked eye it sinks into the sea—and the verse, ‘He found it rising upon a people for whom We had provided no shelter from it’ (Al-Kahf 18:90) contradict the well-known fact that the sun, moon, and stars never disappear from the world altogether,” the answer is clear.

Such an objection stems from profound ignorance and a complete unfamiliarity with the realities of language. Allah never said that the sun sets from the whole earth or rises over the whole earth so as to warrant this pretended objection. He merely spoke of its setting and rising relative to that particular place and region—exactly as everyone, past and present, naturally understands. There is no difference at all between Quranic reports and Quranic rulings; it is common knowledge that every land has its own sunrise and sunset.

Thus these addresses, whether legal rulings or statements of fact, are fashioned with perfect precision, leaving no opening for the cavils of objectors. Anyone who quibbles about them merely displays his own ignorance and folly. The point is so plain that both the sharp-witted and the slow-minded grasp it. This (1) is precisely what it means for the Quran to be an Arabic revelation: Allah sent it down in language that His servants can comprehend.

Benefit: The Quran contains several verses that speak of eternal residence in Hell for sins and major offenses that do not amount to disbelief, such as:

“And whoever deliberately kills a believer—his recompense is Hell, wherein he will dwell forever; Allah is angry with him, has cursed him, and has prepared for him a tremendous punishment.” (Al-Nisāʾ 4:93)

“Whoever disobeys Allah and His Messenger and transgresses His limits, He will admit him to a Fire in which he will abide forever, and for him is a humiliating punishment.” (Al-Nisāʾ 4:14)

“Indeed, whoever earns an evil deed and his sin envelops him—those are the inhabitants of the Fire; they will abide therein forever.” (Al-Baqarah 2:81)