Page 535
lā bāridin wa-lā karīmin
neither cool nor beneficial.
— Ali Quli Qarai
56Al-WāqiʿahالواقعةVerse 44 of 96
The Inevitable56. Al-Wāqiʿahالواقعة
al-Wāqi‘ah
The Event
MeccanVerse 44 of 96
56Al-WāqiʿahالواقعةVerse 44 of 96
The Event
neither cool nor beneficial.
— Ali Quli Qarai
Surah al-Waqi‘a - Verses 41-44
41. And those on the Left Hand, how [unfortunate] shall be those on the Left Hand!
42. They are in fierce hot winds and boiling water,
43. And shadow of black smoke,
44. That shadow is neither cool nor pleasant,
Following a treatment of the great Blessings of those nearest to Divine Threshold and the people of the Right Hand, the blessed Verses in question deal with the horrible and excruciating torments in store for the people on the Left Hand in order to make a comparison between the three groups, saying that the people on the Left Hand shall be so unfortunate that the records of their deeds shall be given unto their left hands symbolizing that they are sinners, impure, wrong-doers, and worthy of being cast into Hellfire.
Then, three torments of theirs are being enumerated: They are in fierce hot winds and boiling water; they are in a shadow of stifling and burning smoke; the fierce hot winds on the one hand and the boiling water and the stifling and hot smoke on the other side entangle them in such manner that they may not bear it any longer. Even if they be not chastised with further torments, their suffering suffices to punish them. The blessed Verse 44 is saying that they shall be in a shadow which shall be neither cool nor pleasant. Shadows preserves man from direct sunlight, winds, and showers at times, but it is manifest they their shadows shall be unpleasant since they are but stifling black smoke which may solely harm.