في عَمَدٍ مُمَدَّدَةٍ

In outstretched columns.

EXEGESIS

ʿAmad (columns) is the plural of ʿamūd, which literally means a pole, a pillar, or a column.^{‎[1]Lane, p. 2152.} It could be the supporting pole of a tent, a house, or any built structure, or a column of water coming out of its source, of electricity, of a tornado, and of a light appearing in the sky at the time of dawn.^{‎[2]https://www.almaany.com/quran/104/9/2/.}

Mumaddadah (outstretched) is a passive participle derived from the root m-d-d which means to stretch, to extend, to prolong or to lengthen, to reinforce, and to refill.^{‎[3]https://www.almaany.com/quran/104/9/3/.} Thus, mumaddadah is something outstretched and extended.^{‎[4]https://corpus.quran.com/wordmorphology.jsp?location=(104:9:3).}

EXPOSITION

It is said that these columns are the pillars of different compartments of hell or the gates of hell, which close upon the people of ḥuṭamah. It is also said that people are tied to these stretched columns. Some have suggested that they are like wood or large trunks that have holes in them, in which the legs of the wrongdoers such as thieves and others are kept.^{‎[5]Mizan, 20/358.}  

The imagined meaning of ʿamad depends on the probable meanings of the preposition fī which goes before it. Consequently, if it has the meaning of the preposition bāʾ (with), then the meaning would be that ḥuṭamah is a tool for punishment and not a place for it, and hence it is formed as stretched, crushing columns of fire that surround the wrongdoers, engulfing them to squeeze and crush them painfully.

And if it has the meaning of in or inside or in the middle, then the meaning would be that ḥuṭamah is a place in which the wrongdoers are punished; they are placed in the middle of these surrounding stretched columns, like the bars of a prison, and they are stretched out very high in a way that no one would contemplate escape. It could be said that the blazing flames of hellfire are stretched upon them and surround them in the shape of beams or pillars. On the other hand, it could be an indication of being in the deepest place of hell, so when they look up they see very high columns, and they feel they are in a degraded and deep place of the hellfire.^{‎[6]Naḥḥās, Iʿrāb al-Qurʾān (Beirut: Dar Ihya al-Turath al-Arabi, 2001), 5/188.} They are degraded because they used to degrade others, and they are crushed as they used to crush others by insulting them.

A group of commentators believe that these stretched columns are the long iron nails by which the doors of hell are fastened so that no exit is found.^{‎[7]Gunabadi, 4/275.}

INSIGHTS FROM HADITH

1. From Imam al-Bāqir (a): ‘Verily, the rejecters and the idol worshippers will tease the sinners among the monotheistic who have ended up in hell. They will say: “We do not see that your monotheism helped in any way, and we and you are nothing but equal.”’ The Imam then said: ‘Then the Lord, the exalted, will change His decree and will tell the angels to intercede for them, hence, they will intercede for those whom God wills. Then God will tell the prophets (a) to intercede; thus, they would intercede for those whom God wills. Then He will tell the believers to intercede, so they will also intercede for those whom God wills. After that God will tell them: “I am the most merciful and the most compassionate, exit [the hellfire] by My mercy, as the moths exit [their nest].”’ Then Imam al-Bāqir (a) said: ‘After that, the columns will be stretched and would close upon them, and that would be, by God, the eternity.’^{‎[8]Tabrisi, 10/820.}

Note: The above narration from ʿAyyāshī gives hope to the believers in God, regardless of their sins.

REVIEW OF TAFSĪR LITERATURE

Ṭabrisī connects the columns to surādiq^{‎[9]Tabrisi, 10/820.} in 18:29: Indeed We have prepared for the wrongdoers a fire whose curtains (surādiq) will surround them [on all sides]. This verse indicates that the curtains or sidewalls of hellfire would surround the evildoers from every side and enclose them inside,^{‎[10]Lane, p. 1348.} an image similar to the valley of Wayl which has columns that would surround them and enclose them as understood by the word muʾṣadah.

In addition, an opinion indicates that ʿamad are hollow columns, and the wrongdoers are put inside it; these columns then squeeze them and crush them. Moreover, another probability indicates that these columns could be the chains kept on their feet to restrict their movements.^{‎[11]Shanqīṭī, Aḍwāʾ al-Bayān fī Īḍāḥ al-Qurʾān bil-Qurʾān, 9/280.}

Therefore, all in all, there are five probabilities about the stretched columns: 1. The columns close up the hellfire. 2. The wrongdoers are beaten and tortured by specific stretched columns inside hell. 3. They are chains tied around their necks. 4. They are chains tied to their feet. 5. The wrongdoers will be imprisoned in the middle of these stretched columns for an endless time.^{‎[12]Māwardī, al-Nukat wa al-ʿUyūn Tafsīr al-Māwardī (Beirut: DKI, 1992), 6/335.}

 

 

[1] Lane, p. 2152.
[2] https://www.almaany.com/quran/104/9/2/.
[3] https://www.almaany.com/quran/104/9/3/.
[4] https://corpus.quran.com/wordmorphology.jsp?location=(104:9:3).
[5] Mizan, 20/358.
[6] Naḥḥās, Iʿrāb al-Qurʾān (Beirut: Dar Ihya al-Turath al-Arabi, 2001), 5/188.
[7] Gunabadi, 4/275.
[8] Tabrisi, 10/820.
[9] Tabrisi, 10/820.
[10] Lane, p. 1348.
[11] Shanqīṭī, Aḍwāʾ al-Bayān fī Īḍāḥ al-Qurʾān bil-Qurʾān, 9/280.
[12] Māwardī, al-Nukat wa al-ʿUyūn Tafsīr al-Māwardī (Beirut: DKI, 1992), 6/335.