“As for those who commit evil, the recompense of an evil deed is its like, and humiliation will cover them. They will have no protector against Allah. It will be as though their faces were covered with pieces of the dark night. They are the people of the Fire; they will remain there forever. (27) And on the Day when We gather them all together, We shall say to those who associated partners with Allah, ‘Remain where you are—you and your partners!’ Then We shall separate them, and their partners will say, ‘It was not us that you worshipped. (28) Allah is sufficient as a witness between us and you: indeed, we were unaware of your worship of us.’ (29) There, every soul will be tested by what it sent ahead, and they will be returned to Allah, their true Master; and whatever they used to fabricate will vanish from them. (30)”
“As for those who commit evil, the recompense of an evil deed is its like”: 169/b that is, they shall have its like, as He said: “Whoever brings an evil deed shall be recompensed only with its like.” (al-An'am 6:160)
“And humiliation will cover them. They will have no protector against Allah”: the word “from” is supplementary; that is, they will have no protector against Allah. “It will be as though [their faces] were covered”: that is, enveloped. “Their faces were covered with pieces”: the plural of “piece.” “Of the dark night”: it is in the accusative as a circumstantial qualifier, not as an adjective; hence He did not say “dark” in agreement with “pieces.” Its meaning is: pieces of the night in its state of darkness, or pieces of the dark night. Ibn Kathir, al-Kisa'i, and Ya'qub recited “a piece” with the letter ta' unvowelled, meaning a portion, as in His saying: “Set out with your family during a portion of the night.” (Hud 11:81) “They are the people of the Fire; they will remain there forever.”
His saying, exalted is He, “And on the Day when We gather them all together, We shall say to those who associated partners with Allah, ‘Remain where you are’”—that is, remain where you are—(1) “you and your partners”: meaning the idols. That is, We shall say to those who associated partners with Allah: Remain where you are, you and your partners, and do not depart. “Then We shall separate them”: We shall distinguish and divide them—meaning, the idolaters from their partners—and sever the ties that existed between them in this world. This will occur when every being worshipped besides Allah disavows those who worshipped it. “And their partners will say”: meaning, the idols, “It was not us that you worshipped”—at our request. They will reply, “Indeed, we worshipped you.” The idols will then say:
“Allah is sufficient as a witness between us and you: indeed, we were unaware of your worship of us”: that is, we were only unaware of your worship of us; we neither heard, nor saw, nor understood.
Allah, exalted is He, said: “There, every soul will be tested”: that is, examined. It is also said to mean: it will know and come to realize it. Hamzah, al-Kisa'i, and Ya'qub recited it as “shall read,” with two letters ta', meaning: every soul shall read its record. It is also said to mean that every soul shall follow what it has sent ahead