fire.

﴾When the souls are paired﴿: “Souls” is the plural of “soul,” and here it refers to the whole human being. Thus, the pairing of souls means that every kind will be joined with its own kind, for “pairs” can mean kinds, as Allah Most High says: ﴾And you will be three classes﴿ [Al-Wāqiʿa: 7]—that is, three kinds. Allah Most High also says: ﴾And other torments of the same kind, in pairs﴿ [Sād: 58]—that is, various kinds. He also says: ﴾Gather those who committed wrong, along with their counterparts﴿ [Al-Sāffāt: 22]—that is, those of their kind and those resembling them.

Thus, on the Day of Resurrection, everyone will be joined with those like them: the righteous with the righteous and the wicked with the wicked. This nation, too, will be gathered together: ﴾And you will see every community kneeling﴿ by itself. ﴾Every community will be summoned to its record: “Today you will be repaid for what you used to do.”﴿ [Al-Jāthiya: 28]

Thus, ﴾when the souls are paired﴿ means that they will be classified and joined together, every kind with its own kind and every nation with its own nation.

﴾When the girl buried alive is asked for what sin she was killed﴿: The girl buried alive is a female child buried while still living. In the pre-Islamic age of ignorance, because of their ignorance, their ill thoughts of Allah, and their lack of forbearance, people would shame one another whenever a girl was born to one of them. When one of them was given news of a baby girl, ﴾his face would grow dark, and he would suppress his grief﴿, filled with worry and sorrow. ﴾He would hide himself from the people﴿—meaning that he would conceal himself from them—﴾because of the bad news he had received. Should he keep her in humiliation, or bury her in the ground?﴿ [Al-Nahl: 59]

In other words, if one of them was told, “We bring you the good news that Allah has given you a female child—a daughter,” he would be overcome with worry and distress and filled with sorrow. He would begin wondering whether to keep the girl despite the humiliation and disgrace, or bury her in the earth and be rid of her. Some chose the former and others the latter.

Some would bury their daughters alive, whether before they were old enough to understand or afterward. One of them might even dig a grave for his daughter, and whenever some earth fell upon his beard, she would brush it away while he continued digging in order to bury her, without feeling any compassion for her in his heart. This demonstrates the utter degradation of the age of ignorance. Even wild beasts show tenderness to their young despite being beasts, whereas these people showed no tenderness to their own children. He says—