Shamr ibn ‘Atiyyah said: Ibn ‘Abbas came to Ka‘b al-Ahbar and said, “Tell me about the saying of Allah, glorified and exalted is He: ‘Indeed, the record of the wicked is in Sijjin.’” He replied: “The soul of the wicked person is taken up to heaven, but heaven refuses to receive it. It is then brought down to the earth, but the earth refuses to receive it. It then descends beneath the seven earths, until it reaches Sijjin—the abode of the troops of Iblis. A scroll is brought out for it from Sijjin; it is inscribed, sealed, and placed beneath the troops of Iblis, so that it may know its doom at the reckoning on the Day of Resurrection.” (1)

This was also the view of Sa‘id ibn Jubayr, who said: “Sijjin lies beneath the troops of Iblis.”

‘Ata’ al-Khurasani said: “It is the lowest earth, where Iblis and his progeny dwell.”

Al-Kalbi said: “It is a green rock beneath the lowest, seventh earth; the greenness of the heavens comes from it, and the record of the wicked is placed within it.”

Ibn Abi Najih also related from Mujahid that he said: “Sijjin is a rock beneath the lowest earth, which is turned over, and the record of the wicked is placed inside it.” Wahb said: “It is the furthest extent of Iblis’s authority.”

It is related in a hadith: “Al-Falaq is a covered pit in Hell, while Sijjin is an open pit in Hell.” (2)

‘Ikrimah said: “In Sijjin” means: in loss and misguidance. Al-Akhfash said: It is an intensive form derived from imprisonment, like fissīq (“grossly sinful”) and shirrīb (“habitual drinker”); its meaning is: in severe confinement and distress.

“And what can make you know what Sijjin is? (8) It is a written record. (9)”

“And what can make you know what Sijjin is?” Al-Zajjaj said: (3) This is not something that you or your people had known.

“It is a written record”: this is not an explanation of Sijjin; rather, it describes the record mentioned in His saying, “Indeed, the record of the wicked.” That is, it is a record in which their deeds have been written and fixed against them, like a pattern woven into a garment. It is neither forgotten nor erased, until they are recompensed for it. Qatadah and Muqatil said: It has been marked with his associates, as though it had been marked with a sign by which it would be known that he is