reciting to you the verses of your Lord and warning you of the meeting of this Day of yours?’ They will answer, ‘Yes indeed; the messengers did come to us, and the warnings reached us. Yet all we did was ridicule them and deny their message. Had we possessed listening ears and minds that could profit, we would never have ended up in this abode, for we opposed both revelation and sound reason.
“So they will confess their sin. ‘So away with the people of the Blaze!’ ⦗Al-Mulk: 11⦘ How terrible their misery and hardship! Their punishment will be varied: at times they will be scorched by a fire that burns their outward and inward parts—whenever their skins are consumed, they will be replaced with new skins; at times they will be tormented by a cold so bitter that it rots the flesh and shatters the bones; and at times they will be racked by extreme hunger and horrific thirst.
“Whenever they beg for relief, they will be met with yet another form of torment, a new misery that makes them forget the one before. They will be given a choking food drawn from the tree of zaqqūm, which ‘sprouts from the very root of Hell’ ⦗Al-Ṣāffāt: 64⦘. Its fruit is unspeakably bitter, putrid, and scorching; when it reaches their stomachs it will boil within them ‘like boiling water’ ⦗Al-Dukhān: 46⦘ that is heated over the Fire. Should they cry out for drink, ‘they will be given water like molten brass that scalds the faces’ ⦗Al-Kahf: 29⦘ as it is brought near. Thirst will still drive them to drink it, and once it reaches their bellies it will tear their intestines apart. The agony will continue—severe, multifaceted, never easing for even a moment. They will have no hope of mercy or relief and will long for death as a respite.
“Then they will call out to Mālik, the chief keeper of Hell: ‘O Mālik, let your Lord finish us off!’ ⦗Al-Zukhruf: 77⦘. He will reply, ‘You shall remain.’ ⦗Al-Zukhruf: 77⦘ ‘So blame only yourselves for the crimes you committed. We certainly brought you the truth, but most of you despised the truth.’ ⦗Al-Zukhruf: 78⦘.
“And they will cry to the people of Paradise, seeking relief: ‘Pour upon us some water, or whatever provision Allah has granted you!’ ⦗Al-Aʿrāf: 50⦘. But the people of Paradise will answer, ‘Allah has forbidden both to the unbelievers.’ ⦗Al-Aʿrāf: 50⦘.