al-Ṣaffāt

طَلْعُهَا كَأَنَّهُ رُؤُوسُ الشَّيَاطِينِ

فَإِنَّهُمْ لأَكِلُونَ مِنْهَا فَمَالِؤُونَ مِنْهَا الْبُطُونَ

ثُمَّ اِنَّ لَهُمْ عَلَيْهَا لَشَوْباً مِنْ حَمِيمٍ

ثُمَّ إِنَّ مَرْجِعَهُمْ لإِلَي الْجَحِيمِ

65. “The shoots of its fruit-stalks are like the heads of devils,”

66. “Then verily they eat from it and fill (their bellies with it.”

67. “Then verily on Top of it they will have a mixture made of boiling water.”

68. “Then verily their return shall be unto the Hell.”

Like the people of Paradise, the people of Hell have also some things to eat and to drink, but the latter not only is not delicious and pleasant, but also they are ugly, distasteful, and injurious. For being far from the foods of Hell, there is no way to escape, nor any way to evade. The people of Hell are so hungry that they fill their bellies with the worst food.

The first verse says:

The Arabic word /tal‘/ is usually used for the shoot of some white strings that later they change into a cluster of dates. This term is derived from /tulu‘/, because it is the first fruit that appears on the tree as if it rises. Here, there comes forth a question asking whether people had seen the heads of devils that the Qur’an likens the shoots of Zaqqum to it. The commentators have answered this question by different answers. Some of them have said: one of the meanings of ‘Satan’ is a kind of ugly snake that the shoots of Zaqqum have been likened to it.

Some have said that it is a kind of ugly plant. It is cited in Muntah-il-Adab: /ra’s-uš-šaytan/ or /ru’us-uš-šayatin/ is an ugly plant. But what is more correct is that this likening is for the statement of the utmost ugliness and its hateful shape. Then, in the second verse, the Qur’an implies that these proud unjust people will certainly eat of this plant and fill their bellies from it. The verse says:

This is the same punishment and trial which was mentioned on the previous verse. Eating from this hellish plant, with that bad smell and bitter taste, and with that sap, the touch of which with the body causes hurt and swelling, and specially eating abundantly, is a painful chastisement. It is evident that eating this bitter and unwholesome food brings thirst, but what do they drink when they become thirsty? The Qur’an in the third verse says:

The Arabic word /šaub/ means something which is mixed with something else; and the Qur’anic term /hamim/ is ‘hot blazing water’. So, the hot water they drink is not unmixed, but it is polluted. That is the food of the people of Hell and this is their drink, but where do they go after this entertainment?

Some of the commentators have understood from this meaning that this hot polluted water comes from a spring from outside of Hell. The people of Hell are formerly taken there like animals that are taken to a pond, and after drinking from it, they are returned into the Hell. As we pointed out before, neither the blessings of Heaven are available for us in this world as they are, nor the chastisements of the people of Hell. Only by some short sentences their outline from a far distance are partly illustrated in our mind.

(O’ Lord! Protect us, by Your grace, from these punishments.)