is reported from Ibn ‘Abbās: while they are in the Fire, a gate of Paradise will be opened for them. They will rush toward it, only for it to be closed. Then another gate will be opened for them, and they will rush toward it, only for it to be closed. The believers will then laugh at them. The Most High says:

“So today those who believed are laughing at the disbelievers, looking on from couches. Have the disbelievers been repaid for what they used to do?”

It is reported from al-Hasan al-Basrī: “On the Day of Resurrection, the Fire will subside for them, as fat in a cooking pot subsides. They will walk forward, only for the ground to swallow them up.”

And from Muqātil: “When a wall with a gate is erected between them and the believers, with mercy on the inside and punishment on the outside, they will remain in darkness and be told: ‘Go back and seek a light.’”

Some have said: “His mocking them consists in His drawing them gradually toward their doom.” Others have said: “It consists in bringing their mockery down upon them and turning their deception and plotting back against them.” Others have said: “He shows them in this world the opposite of what He has kept hidden for them in the Hereafter.” Still others have said: “It consists in His exposing their ignorance and showing that what they did was wrong.” All of this is true, and it is mockery of them in the literal sense.

Among the well-known examples cited by those who affirm figurative language in the Quran is:

“Ask the town.”

They say that its inhabitants are meant: the governing noun has been omitted, and its dependent noun put in its place. They are answered as follows: terms such as “town,” “city,” “river,” “gutter,” and the like encompass both what occupies a place and the place itself. Sometimes the statement concerns what occupies it—namely, the inhabitants—and sometimes the place itself.

Likewise, with a river, one says, “I dug the river,” meaning the place, and “The river flowed,” meaning the water. One says, “I installed the gutter,” meaning the place, and “The gutter flowed,” meaning the water. The same applies to a town. The Most High says:

“Allah sets forth the example of a town that was safe and at peace.”

And He says:

“And how many a town