narrow and constricted. It is narrated from Ibn Masʿud, Abu Hurayrah, and Abu Saʿid al-Khudri that they said: It is the punishment of the grave. Abu Saʿid said: “He will be compressed until his ribs overlap.” (1)

In some Musnads, it is narrated in a report traced back to the Prophet: “The grave closes in upon him until his ribs overlap, and he will continue to be punished until he is resurrected.” (2)

Al-Hasan said: It is the zaqqum, the bitter thorny food, and the foul discharge in the Fire.

ʿIkrimah said: It is unlawful wealth. Al-Dahhak said: It is wicked earnings.

Ibn ʿAbbas said: It is misery. It is also narrated from him that he said: “Whatever wealth a servant is given, whether little or much, if he does not fear Allah with regard to it, there is no good in it; this is the constriction of livelihood. There are people who turned away from the truth while possessing abundant worldly means and great wealth, yet their livelihood was constricted. That is because they believed that Allah would not replace what they spent for them, so their means of living became difficult for them because of their evil opinion of Allah.”

Saʿid ibn Jubayr said: “He deprives him of contentment, so that he is never satisfied.” (3)

“And We shall raise him blind on the Day of Resurrection.” Ibn ʿAbbas said: Blind in sight. Mujahid said: Blind to the proof.

“He will say, ‘My Lord, why have You raised me blind when I had been able to see?’” (125)