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hādhā fawjun muqtaḥimun maʿakum lā marḥaban bihim ʾinnahum ṣālū n-nāri
[The leaders of the faithless will be told,] ‘This is a group [of your followers] plunging [into hell] along with you.’ [They will repond,] ‘May wretchedness be their lot! For they will enter the Fire.’
— Ali Quli Qarai
Surah Sad - Verses 58-61
58. “And other punishments of a similar kind to match them!”
59. “(To their leaders it shall be said:) ‘This is a group (of your followers) rushing in with you.’ (They say:) ‘There is no welcome for them! Verily they shall enter the Fire’!”
60. “They say: ‘No, it is you have no welcome: you forwarded it for us; how evil is the abode’.”
61. “They say: ‘Our Lord! Whoever has forwarded this for us, increase him a twofold chastisement in the Fire’.”
On the Day of Hereafter, the followers of corruption will hate their leaders. By the way, the others’ invitation to sin does not remove the responsibility of the sinner. Again these holy verses refer to other kinds of their painful punishments. The Qur’an says:
The Arabic word /šakl/ means ‘like’, and the Qur’anic term /’azwaj/ here means ‘kinds, sorts’, and this is a slight hint to some other kinds of punishment like the aforementioned punishments which have been stated here ambiguously, and maybe they are not explainable and understandable for the prisoners of this world of material. This, in fact, is the opposite point of ‘abundant fruits’ which was mentioned in the former verses and pointed to the kinds of different bounties and fruits in Paradise.
However, this similarity may be in severity, and in troublesome, or in all aspects. The next holy verse points to their last punishment. This punishment is their companions, bad language with full of scorn. The verse implies that when the leaders of mischief arrive into Hell and by their eyes see that their followers are being brought into Hell, too, they shall say to each other as follows:
The Qur’anic sentence saying:
with the context of the later sentences and verses, is from among the statements of the leaders of corruption. When they see their followers are going to enter into Hell, they tell each other that these will be with you, too. Some commentators have also said that this is a sentence from the side of the angels addressing to the leaders of infidelity and disobedience; but the first meaning is more suitable. The Arabic word /marhaba/ is a word which is said to a guest when he is welcome, but the Arabic word /la marhaba/ is opposite to it. This word is derived from infinitive /rahb/ in the sense of the vastness of place; it means: ‘You are welcome that you have arrived in a vast and suitable place’. The equivalent of it is ‘welcome’.
The Qur’anic word /muqtaham/ is derived from /’iqtiham/ in the sense of arriving into a hard and horrible deed; and it is often used in the case of arriving into some things without previous thought and study, too. This application shows that the followers of mischief will arrive into the severe and horrible Fire of Hell because of only their carnal desires and blind limitations without formerly thought and study. However, those followers hear this sound and they become very angry because of the leaders of mischief’s saying ‘no welcome’ for them.
They will address them and say, as the verse says:
This recent sentence: ‘How evil is the abode’ is, in fact, the opposite point to ‘Gardens of perpetuity’ (verse 50) which was mentioned about the pious ones, indicating that the great calamity is that Hell is not a temporary abode, but it is a permanent abode. The purpose of ‘the followers’ from this meaning is that they want to say whatever it is, it has this goodness that you, the leaders of mischief, are in the same thing that we are, and this is the remedy of our heart. Or it points to this matter that your crimes, the leaders, unto us, are some great ones, because Hell is not a temporary abode for all of us, but it is our permanent abode.
Yet, the followers do not suffice to this saying, because they thought that the chiefs of mischief, who were the main factor of the crime, were more deserving than them. So they turn to Allah and express as the verse says:
There must be a punishment for their aberration, and the second punishment must be for making us aberrant. This verse is similar to what is said in Surah Al-’A‘raf, No. 17, verse 38 which says:
Though the same verse continues saying that both of them will have double chastisement, because the followers were also the executive factors of the leaders and the grounds of mischief and astray were provided by them, and if people do not help the tyrant they will not have power to do anything. But, in any case, there is no doubt that the leaders will have a more grievous punishment, though both of them have double chastisement. Yes, this is the end of those who made friend with each other and promised to lead others astray, and when they see the result of their evil deeds they will become the enemy of each other and curse each other.
It is noteworthy that the blessings of the pious are more various than the punishments of the disobedient: (there are seven merits mentioned for the former and five punishments for the latter.). This may be for the sake of preceding Allah’s Mercy to His wrath. We say: