about the statement of Allah, Exalted is He:

“they shall abide therein as long as the heavens and the earth endure, except as your Lord wills” (1).

He said, “This single verse encompasses every threat contained in the Quran.” (2)

Isḥāq continued: ʿUbayd Allāh ibn Muʿādh narrated to us, Muʿtamir ibn Sulaymān narrated to us. He said: My father related to me—Abū Naḍrah, on the authority of Jābir, or Abū Saʿīd, or one of the Companions of the Prophet ﷺ—who said: “This verse overrides the whole of the Quran: ‘except as your Lord wills; indeed your Lord does whatever He wills.’ ” (3)

Muʿtamir added, “My father meant that it covers every threat found in the Quran.” (4)

Abū Jaʿfar Ibn Jarīr al-Ṭabarī recorded this in his Tafsīr (5). He said: al-Ḥasan ibn Yaḥyā reported to us: ʿAbd al-Razzāq narrated to us, from Ibn al-Taymī, from his father Abū Naḍrah, from Jābir, or Abū Saʿīd, or from a man among the Companions of the Prophet ﷺ regarding the Almighty’s words,

“except as your Lord wills; indeed your Lord does whatever He wills” (6).

He said, “This verse governs the entirety of the Quran; wherever the Quran says, ‘they shall remain therein forever,’ this verse qualifies it.” (7)

Ibn Jarīr also related—on the authority of Ibn al-Musayyab, from someone who cited Ibn ʿAbbās—concerning His statement,

“they shall abide therein as long as the heavens and the earth endure, except as your Lord wills” (8).

He said, “Allah, Mighty and Majestic, made an exception; He will command the Fire to consume them.” (9)