وَرَأَى المُجرِمونَ النّارَ فَظَنّوا أَنَّهُم مُواقِعوها وَلَم يَجِدوا عَنها مَصرِفًا
The guilty will sight the fire and know that they will fall into it, for they will find no means to circumvent it.
EXEGESIS
Mujrimūn (the guilty) is the plural of mujrim, which comes from ijrām. Ijrām originally means to cut off. The time of jirām is when the fruit would be cut off from the tree as with ṣirām. When used for actions, it means to cut off the action towards evil. A mujrim is one who commits ijrām, meaning someone who does evil actions.
Ẓannū (they know) means to assume and is a degree lower than knowledge. However, in certain cases, like here, it is used to mean confident knowledge, as in the verse, Those who are certain (yaẓunnūna) that they will encounter their Lord (2:46). According to Rāghib, ẓann is what one acquires as an initial impression. If it becomes strong, it evolves into knowledge (ʿilm), and if it weakens, it becomes what is imagined (tawahhum). For this reason ẓann can hold two opposite meanings: that of absolute conviction or conjecture. Often the meaning is only known from the context.
Muwāqiʿūhā (they will fall into it) is the active participle from muwāqaʿah added to the pronoun hā, which refers to the fire. Muwāqaʿah means to fall into something with haste and force. So, muwāqiʿūhā means they will fall into hell rapidly and forcibly. However, there may be something more to the expression. Muwāqaʿah is on the standard of mufāʿalah which denotes mutuality. So, some have said that the meaning is that they will go into the fire of hell and the fire of hell will go into them, akin to the verse, the fire whose fuel will be humans (2:24), and others.
Maṣrif (circumvent) literally means a way of return; that is, they cannot find another path or way by which to go (maʿdil). Others have said it means a way of escape (mahrib), meaning they cannot escape it since it is surrounding them. Practically, the two mean the same thing here.
EXPOSITION
As per the previous verse, the wrongdoers will realise that there is no power or wilāyah except that of God. They will understand that their accumulated wealth does not avail them; the people or things which they took as partners beside God do not hold any authority; they even call out to them in a final act of desperation. Then it will dawn upon them that there is no escaping the consequences of their actions and they must indeed face the punishment that awaits them, When those who were followed will disown the followers, and they will sight the punishment while all their means of recourse will be cut off (2:166).
In a more general sense, the verse can be understood also as referencing the various stages of the unveiling of realities on the Day of Judgement. The truth of God, of the metaphysical world, of good and evil, the effects of actions and their outcomes, are all things that will be shown to people on that day. Seeing the fire is hence one aspect of uncovering, a realisation that they must truly face the consequences of their actions, when they will know that they will fall into it. The verse is similar to what we read elsewhere in the Quran, such as The day when man will remember his endeavours and hell is brought into view for one who sees (79:35-36). Remembering the endeavours is part of that realisation, as in this world they purposefully ignored the truth and made themselves heedless of it (this heedlessness is referenced in verse 57).
We may also note the imagery that the Quran uses in its descriptions of hell. It informs us that hell is seen from afar by people on the Day of Judgement, sending up smoke and flames visible from a great distance, Get off toward what you used to deny! Get off toward the triple-forked shadow, which is neither shady nor is of any avail against the flame. Indeed, it throws up sparks [huge] like palaces, [bright] as if they were yellow camels (77:29-33). As if it is a sentient being, it rages and roars upon seeing the guilty. When it sights them from a distant place, they will hear it raging and roaring (25:12), and they hear it blaring, as it seethes, almost exploding with rage (67:7-8).
INSIGHTS FROM HADITH
- From Ibn Abbas, that the Prophet said: ‘Open your eyes during ritual ablutions (wuḍūʾ), so perhaps they may not see the fire of hell.’
- From Abū Saʿīd al-Khudrī, that the Prophet said: ‘The disbeliever will be held standing for 50,000 years, just as he was idle [and did not do good deeds] in the world. The disbeliever will see hell and know that it will engulf him (muwāqiʿahu) from the distance of forty years; and God knows best.’
Note: Tabatabai takes this second hadith as evidence for his position, that the act of muwāqaʿah is mutual.
INSIGHTS FROM OTHER TRADITIONS
- For if we go on sinning deliberately after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a fearful expectation of judgment, and a fury of fire that will consume the adversaries.
[1] Tibyan, 7/59. See also Raghib, p. 192.
[2] Raghib, p. 539.
[3] Tibyan, 7/59; Tabari, 15/173. This seems to be the majority opinion (see Muhit, 7/192). It is also the opinion that is mentioned in a report attributed to Imam Ali (a) (Nur, 3/269-270; Mizan, 13/335).
[4] Muhit, 7/192; Nemuneh, 12/465.
[5] Raghib, ẓ-n-n.
[6] Tibyan, 7/59.
[7] Mizan, 13/331; Nemuneh, 12/464-465.
[8] Tibyan, 7/59-60; Tabrisi, 6/736; Tabari, 15/173.
[9] Qurtubi, 11/4.
[10] See also for example 26:90-91.
[11] Faqih, 1/50; Thawab, p. 17; Ilal, 1/280-281; Wasail, 1/486, h. 1287.
[12] Ahmad, 3/75; Suyuti, 4/228. For similar hadith see also Tirmidhi, 4/107; Ahmad, 3/29.
[13] Mizan, 13/335-336.
[14] Hebrews 10:26-27.