“And We have certainly adorned the nearest heaven with lamps, and made them missiles against the devils; and We have prepared for them the punishment of the Blaze. For those who disbelieve in their Lord is the punishment of Hell—an evil destination! When they are cast into it, they will hear it roaring as it boils, almost bursting apart in rage. Whenever a company is cast into it, its keepers will ask them, ‘Did no warner come to you?’ They will say, ‘Yes indeed, a warner came to us, but we denied him and said, “Allah has not sent down anything; you are only in great error.”’ And they will say, ‘Had we listened or understood, we would not have been among the inhabitants of the Blaze.’ Thus they will confess their sin; so away with the inhabitants of the Blaze!”

“And We have certainly adorned the nearest heaven”: that is, the heaven nearest to the earth, which people see. “With lamps”: that is, the stars; the singular is miṣbāḥ, meaning a lamp. A star is called a lamp because of its light. “And made them missiles”: projectiles “against the devils” when they eavesdrop. “And We have prepared for them,” in the Hereafter, “the punishment of the Blaze”: the kindled Fire.

“For those who disbelieve in their Lord is the punishment of Hell—an evil destination! When they are cast into it, they will hear it roaring”: this is the first sound of a donkey’s braying, and it is the ugliest of sounds. “As it boils”: it boils with them as a cauldron boils. Mujahid said: “It boils with them as abundant water boils with a small amount of grain.”

“Almost bursting apart”: that is, splitting open “in rage,” out of its fury against them. Ibn Qutaybah said: “It almost splits apart in rage against the disbelievers.” “Whenever a company is cast into it”: a group of them. “Its keepers will ask them,” as a rebuke, “Did no warner come to you?”: a messenger to warn you.

“They will say, ‘Yes indeed, a warner came to us, but we denied him and said’”—to the messengers—“‘Allah has not sent down anything; you are only in great error.’”

“And they will say, ‘Had we listened’” to what the messengers brought us, “‘or understood’” it from them. Ibn Abbas said: “Had we listened to the guidance, or understood it and acted upon it, we would not have been among the inhabitants of the Blaze.” Al-Zajjaj said: “Had we listened as one who comprehends and reflects listens, or understood as one who discerns and considers understands, we would not have been among the people of the Fire.”

“Thus they will confess their sin; so away with the inhabitants of the Blaze!” That is, far removed be they from mercy. Abu Ja‘far and al-Kisa’i recited fa-suḥuqan.