ʿAbdullāh ibn al-Mubārak related:

Rashīdīn ibn Saʿd told me; Ibn Anʿum told me, from Abū ʿUthmān, who reported that Abū Hurayrah narrated from the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, who said:

“Two men who had entered the Fire will be screaming with a piercing cry. The Lord—glorified and exalted be He—will say, ‘Bring them out,’ and they will be brought out. He will then ask them, ‘Why was your crying so intense?’ They will reply, ‘We did that so that You might show mercy to us.’ He will say, ‘My mercy toward you is that you go and throw yourselves back into the very place in the Fire from which you came.’

“So they set off. One of them hurls himself in, and Allah makes it coolness and peace for him. The other remains standing and does not throw himself in. The Lord—may He be exalted—will say to him, ‘What kept you from casting yourself in as your companion did?’ He will answer, ‘My Lord, I placed my hope in You that, after You had brought me out of it, You would not return me to it.’ The Lord will say, ‘Your hope is granted.’ Both of them will then enter Paradise by the mercy of Allah—exalted is He.” (1)

Bilāl ibn Saʿd said in one of his sermons that when Allah—Most High—commands the two to go back to the Fire, one of them walks off, still in his shackles and chains, until he plunges into it, while the other hesitates. Allah—Most High—will say to the first, “What made you do what you did?” He will reply, “I have already tasted the disastrous consequence of disobeying You, so I would never expose myself to Your wrath a second time.” He will then say to the other, “What made you hesitate?” He will answer, “My good opinion of You: after You brought me out, I thought You would not send me back.” Allah—Most High—will thereupon have mercy on them both and admit them to Paradise.

Section

When the people who were guilty of sins have all been taken out of the Fire and none remain there but the disbelievers, those disbelievers will neither die therein nor live; they will never leave it, nor can they escape from it. Rather, they will abide in it forever. They are the ones whom the Quran has confined and upon whom the decree of eternity has been passed, as Allah the Exalted says:

“Whoever disobeys Allah and His Messenger—for him is the Fire of Jahannam; they will dwell therein forever.” ⦗al-Jinn 23⦘

And He says: “Indeed, Allah has cursed the disbelievers and prepared for them a blazing Fire— (64) abiding therein forever; they will find neither protector nor helper.” ⦗al-Ahzāb 64-65⦘

And He says in Sūrat al-Nisāʾ: “Indeed, those who disbelieve and commit wrong—Allah will never forgive them, nor will He guide them to any way (168) except the way of Jahannam, wherein they will dwell forever; and that is ever easy for Allah.” ⦗al-Nisāʾ 168-169⦘

These are three verses in which the judgment of perpetual residence in the Fire is pronounced upon them; there is no fourth verse like them on this matter.

As for His words: “The Fire is your abode; you will dwell therein—except as Allah wills. Surely your Lord is All-Wise, All-Knowing.” ⦗al-Anʿām 128⦘

and His words: “But as for those who are wretched, they will be in the Fire; for them therein is violent exhaling and inhaling (106) abiding therein as long as the heavens and the earth endure—except what your Lord wills; surely your Lord does whatever He intends.” ⦗Hūd 106-107⦘

Ibn Jarīr and other exegetes have spoken at length about these verses, and narrations have come