“Like murky oil, it will boil within their bellies, like the boiling of scalding water. ‘Seize him and drag him into the midst of Hellfire. Then pour over his head the punishment of scalding water. Taste! You are indeed the mighty, the noble! This is what you used to doubt.’ Indeed, the God-fearing will be in a secure abode.” (45–51)

“Like murky oil”: that is, the black sediment of oil. “It will boil within their bellies”: Ibn Kathir and Hafs read the verb in the masculine form, referring it to the murky oil, while the others read it in the feminine form, referring it to the tree. “Within their bellies”: that is, the bellies of the disbelievers. “Like the boiling of scalding water”: like hot water when its boiling becomes intense.

Abd al-Wahid ibn Ahmad al-Malihi informed us; Abu Bakr al-Abdusi informed us; Abu Bakr Muhammad ibn Hamdun ibn Khalid ibn Yazid informed us; Sulayman ibn Yusuf related to us; Wahb ibn Jarir related to us; Shu'bah related to us from al-A'mash, from Mujahid, from Abdullah ibn Abbas, who said: The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said: “O people, fear Allah as He should be feared. If a single drop of zaqqum were to fall upon the earth, it would embitter the livelihood of the people of this world. So what of the one for whom it is food, and who has no food besides it?” (1)

Allah Most High says: “Seize him”: that is, it will be said to the guardians of Hell, “Seize him,” meaning the sinful one. “And drag him”: the scholars of Kufa, Abu Ja'far, and Abu Amr read the final consonant with kasrah, whereas the rest read it with dammah. Both are acceptable linguistic forms; that is, push him and drive him along. One says that a person was dragged when he was driven with violence, pushed, and pulled. “Into the midst of Hellfire”: that is, its center.

“Then pour over his head the punishment of scalding water.” Muqatil said: The keeper of the Fire strikes him upon his head, piercing it down to his brain; then he pours into it scalding water whose heat has reached its utmost limit. (2)

Then it will be said to him: “Taste” this punishment. Al-Kisa'i read “because you” with an open initial vowel, meaning: because you used to say, “I am the mighty one.” The others read it with a closed initial vowel, as the beginning of a new statement: “You are indeed the mighty, the noble,” among your people, as you claimed. This is because Abu Jahl used to say, “I am the mightiest and most noble of the people of this valley.” Thus the guardians of Hell will say this to him by way of contempt and rebuke.

“This is what you used to doubt”: that is, what you used to doubt and not believe in. Then He mentioned the final abode of the God-fearing, saying:

“Indeed, the God-fearing will be in a secure abode.” The scholars of Medina and Syria read “in a secure standing-place,” with the letter mim pronounced with dammah, as a verbal noun,