and kindling its flame, just as a fire is kindled with firewood. (1) It is said, “So-and-so gathers firewood against so-and-so,” when he incites others against him. (2)
Sa‘id ibn Jubayr said: “A carrier of sins.” The evidence for this is His saying: “While they bear their burdens upon their backs.” (Al-An‘am 6:31)
‘Asim recited “carrier” in the accusative case, as an expression of condemnation, like His saying, “Accursed.”
The others recited it in the nominative case, and this admits of two interpretations. The first is: He and his wife, the carrier of firewood, will burn in a Fire. The second is: His wife, the carrier of firewood, will also be in the Fire.
“Around her neck is a rope of twisted fiber. (5)”
“Around her neck” means around her neck; its plural is ajyād. As for “a rope of twisted fiber,” they differed concerning its meaning. Ibn ‘Abbas and ‘Urwah ibn al-Zubayr said: It is a chain of iron, seventy cubits long, which enters through her mouth and emerges from her rear, while the rest of it is around her neck. Its origin is masd, meaning twisting; masad is whatever is twisted and tightly bound, of whatever material it may be. That is, the chain around her neck was fashioned from iron, tightly twisted.
Al-A‘mash narrated from Mujahid: “Of masad” means of iron. Masad is the iron piece found in a pulley, which is called its axle.
Al-Sha‘bi and Muqatil said: It is of palm fiber. Al-Dahhak and others said: In this world it was of palm fiber, while in the Hereafter it will be of fire. That palm fiber was the rope with which she used to gather firewood. One day, as she was carrying a bundle, she became exhausted and sat upon a stone to rest. Then an angel came to her, pulled her from behind, and destroyed her.
Ibn Zayd said: It is a rope made from a tree that grows in Yemen and is called masad.
Qatadah said: It was a necklace of cowrie shells. (3) Al-Hasan said: There were [fine] beads around her neck. (4) Sa‘id ibn al-Musayyib said: She had a fine necklace around her neck, and she said, “I shall surely spend it in hostility toward Muhammad, may Allah bless him and grant him peace.”