the truth. ‘Ikrimah and Mujahid said: He is one who keeps away from the truth and stubbornly opposes Allah.

“[He is] a withholder of good, a transgressor, a doubter; who set up another god beside Allah. So cast him into the severe punishment.” His companion will say, “Our Lord, I did not cause him to transgress; rather, he was far astray.” He will say, “Do not dispute before Me, for I had already given you warning. My decree is not changed, nor am I unjust to My servants.” On the Day We say to Hell, “Are you full?” and it says, “Is there any more?” (25–30)

“A withholder of good”: that is, of the obligatory zakah and every due right incumbent upon his wealth. “A transgressor”: an unjust person who does not acknowledge the oneness of Allah. “A doubter”: one who doubts the oneness of Allah; that is, one immersed in doubt.

“Who set up another god beside Allah. So cast him into the severe punishment”: that is, the Fire.

“His companion will say”: meaning the devil assigned to this disbeliever: “Our Lord, I did not cause him to transgress”—I did not lead him astray or tempt him into error—“rather, he was far astray” from the truth. Thus, his devil disavows him. Ibn ‘Abbas, Sa‘id ibn Jubayr, and Muqatil said: “His companion will say” means the angel. Sa‘id ibn Jubayr said: The disbeliever says, “My Lord, the angel added to my record.” The angel then says, “Our Lord, I did not cause him to transgress,” meaning: I did not add anything against him, and I recorded only what he said and did (1). Rather, he was far astray—deeply astray, from which he would not return to the truth.

“He will say”: Allah will say, “Do not dispute before Me, for I had already given you warning”—in the Quran; I warned and cautioned you through the tongue of the Messenger, and I passed upon you the judgment I was to pass.

“My decree is not changed”: there is no alteration to My decree. This is His saying: “I will surely fill Hell with jinn and humans all together” (al-Sajdah 32:13). Some said that the meaning of His saying, “My decree is not changed,” is: No lie can be uttered before Me, nor can any statement be distorted from its proper meaning, for I know the unseen. This was the view of al-Kalbi and the preferred view of al-Farra’ (2), because He said, “My decree is not changed,” and did not say, “My word is not changed.”

“Nor am I unjust to My servants”: thus, I do not punish them without sin.

“On the Day We say to Hell”: Nafi‘ and Abu Bakr recited it in the third-person form, “He says,” meaning that Allah says it, based on His saying, “He will say: Do not dispute before Me.” The others recited it in the first-person plural form, “We say”: “Are you full?” This is because He had previously promised it that He would fill it