And al-Dahhak said: “[They will be made to climb a mountain of iron in the Fire.]” (1) The wording refers to the “faces,” but what is intended is their people.

“They will enter a blazing Fire (4), and be given to drink from a boiling spring (5). They will have no food except from a bitter, thorny plant (6).”

With regard to “They will enter a blazing Fire,” the people of Basra and Abu Bakr recited it as tusla, with the initial ta’ vowelled with a dammah, in keeping with His saying, “and be given to drink from a boiling spring.” The others recited it as tasla, with the initial ta’ vowelled with a fathah.

“A blazing Fire”: Ibn ‘Abbas said, “It has been made intensely hot, and so it flares against the enemies of Allah.”

“Given to drink from a boiling spring”: that is, a spring reaching the utmost degree of heat, over which Hell has been kindled ever since it was created. They will be driven to it [in thirsty droves] (2), parched with thirst. The exegetes said: If a single drop from it were to fall upon the mountains of this world, they would melt away. This will be their drink. Then He mentions their food, saying: “They will have no food except from a bitter, thorny plant.”

Mujahid, ‘Ikrimah, and Qatadah said: It is a plant with thorns that clings close to the ground, which Quraysh call shibriq; when it dries out, they call it dari‘ (3). It is the foulest and most repulsive of foods. This is also the narration of al-‘Awfi from Ibn ‘Abbas. Al-Kalbi said: “No animal goes near it once it has dried.”

Ibn Zayd said: “In this world, dari‘ is dry thornbush whose leaves have withered; but in the Hereafter, it is thorns of fire.” (4) It is reported in a hadith from Ibn ‘Abbas: “Dari‘ is something in the Fire, resembling (5) thorns; it is more bitter than aloes, more fetid than carrion, and hotter than fire.” (6)

Abu al-Darda’ and al-Hasan said: Allah Most High will send hunger upon the inhabitants of the Fire until it becomes as severe to them as the punishment they are already suffering. They will cry out for relief, and they will be given dari‘ as relief. Then they will cry out for relief again, and they will be given food that causes choking. They will remember that, in this world, they used water to make choking morsels pass, so they will ask for water. He will then make them thirst for a thousand years, after which they will be given a draught from a boiling spring—a drink neither pleasant nor wholesome. When they bring it near their faces, it will strip away and roast the skin of their faces; and when it reaches their bellies, it will cut them apart. This is the saying of Allah, Mighty and Majestic: “And they will be given scalding water to drink, which will cut their intestines to pieces.” (7) (Muhammad 15)