Allah Most High said:

“He said, ‘This is a straight path leading to Me. (41) Indeed, over My servants you shall have no authority, except those of the misguided who follow you. (42) And indeed, Hell is the promised place for them all. (43) It has seven gates; for each gate there is an allotted share of them.’” (44)

“He said, ‘This is a straight path leading to Me.’” Al-Hasan said: It means, “A straight path leading to Me.”

Mujahid said: The truth returns to Allah Most High, and its course belongs to Him; nothing can render it crooked.

Al-Akhfash said: It means: It is incumbent upon Me to show the way to the straight path.

Al-Kisa’i said: This is a threat and warning, like a man saying to one with whom he is disputing, “Your path is upon me,” meaning, “You will not escape from me,” as He, exalted is He, says: “Indeed, your Lord is ever watchful.” (al-Fajr 14)

It is also said that it means: Its straightness is established through clear exposition, proof, divine enabling, and guidance.

Ibn Sirin, Qatadah, and Ya‘qub recited it as “lofty,” derived from the word meaning “highness.” Some explained it as: “Too lofty to be attained, and too straight to be bent.”

“Indeed, over My servants you shall have no authority”—197/A—that is, no power.

The scholars of meaning said: That is, over their hearts.

Sufyan ibn ‘Uyaynah was asked about this verse, and he said: It means that you have no authority over them to cast them into a sin too great for My forgiveness. These are those whom Allah has set apart: those whom He has guided and chosen. “Except those of the misguided who follow you.”

“And indeed, Hell is the promised place for them all”: that is, the promised place of Iblis and those who follow him.

“It has seven gates”: that is, seven levels.

Ali, may Allah be pleased with him, said: “Do you know what the gates of the Fire are like? They are like this,” and [Shu‘bah] placed one of his hands upon the other (1)—that is, seven gates, one above another. Allah has set the Gardens out side by side, and placed the Fires one above another.

Ibn Jurayj said: The Fire has seven levels: the first is Hell, then Laza, then the Crusher, then the Blazing Fire, then Saqar, then the Inferno, and then the Abyss.

“For each gate there is an allotted share of them”: that is, each level has people who dwell therein.

Al-Dahhak said: In the first level are the people of tawhid who are admitted into the Fire. They will be punished according to their sins, then