ثُمَّ إِنَّكُم أَيُّهَا الضّالّونَ المُكَذِّبونَ
لَآكِلونَ مِن شَجَرٍ مِن زَقّومٍ
فَمالِئونَ مِنهَا البُطونَ
Then indeed, you, astray deniers,
will surely eat from the zaqqūm tree
and stuff your bellies with it.
EXEGESIS
These verses pick up the description of the punishment of the people of the left hand which was interrupted in verses 49-50 in order to answer the question of the disbelievers. Thus, thumma in verse 51 effectively means ‘in addition’. It does not necessarily indicate the temporal subsequence of what is being mentioned here to what was mentioned before.
The direct address used in these verses is a means of threatening and moving the audience. Astray deniers means that their misguidance was not a passive misguidance out of ignorance, but it was a deliberate defiant rejection of the truth after it became evident to them. Therefore, these two attributes serve as a justification for why they will be given the punishments mentioned here. In other words, these two attributes are both necessary for one’s damnation. That is, if one goes astray due to ignorance, or if one denies something based on guidance and justifiable grounds, then the person would not be among the astray deniers. It might be for this very reason that the two attributes are mentioned in the opposite order in verse 92 – to show that these two attributes are jointly meant and it is not a matter of order. It could also be that going astray sets the ground for one’s denial of the truth (be that the hereafter, God’s unity, or His revelations), and that is why astray is mentioned prior to deniers (see the Exegesis of verse 45). As with verse 92, it is among a set of verses that wrap up the chapter and concerns the end of the three groups. That is why the verse mentions deniers first, as that is where they end up.
Shajar is any plant that has a stem or trunk. Zaqqūm is apparently a Quranic term, introduced and defined in the Quran. It is a tree or plant that grows in the midst of hell (37:64). The sinners will be fed from it; it is as hot as molten copper and will boil in their bellies like boiling water (44:43-46). The verb zaqama means to swallow something reprehensible and unpleasant, especially by force, which is apparently obtained and derived from and subsequent to the Quran. On top of it in verse 54 indicates that there will be no respite or break for them between eating from the bitter zaqqūm and drinking form the hot boiling ḥamīm.
INSIGHTS FROM HADITH
- The Prophet said: ‘Truly, if a single drop of zaqqūm were to be dropped on the mountains of the earth, they would surely collapse and sink into the lowest of the seven earths [or the seven layers of the earth] and they would not be able to bear it. So how will it be for one whose drink it is?’ In another narration he said: ‘If a single drop of zaqqūm were to drop on the earth [or in this world], it would ruin the life of all of the people. So how will it be for one who has no food other than that?’
REVIEW OF TAFSĪR LITERATURE
Stuffing the belly and drinking like thirsty camels may suggest that they have an appetite for the zaqqūm and ḥamīm. Some exegetes have thus concluded that the inhabitants of hell will suffer such an extent of hunger and thirst that they will rush toward zaqqūm and ḥamīm. In other words, the zaqqūm and the boiling water will be relatively less severe than their hunger and thirst. This implies that the zaqqūm and ḥamīm offers them, relatively speaking, some sort of relief and alleviation. However, there will be no rest, relief, or alleviation in hell, as stressed time and again in the Holy Quran (4:56, 17:97, 22:22, 40:49-50, 43:77, 77:30-31, 78:24, 88:7, and verses 43-44 of this surah).
[1] Razi, 29/414.
[2] Raghib, under sh-j-r.
[3] Raghib; Tahqiq, under z-q-m.
[4] Mizan, 19/126.
[5] Bihar, 8/302, h. 61; Ahmad, 1/301; Ibn Majah, 2/1446, h. 4325; Tirmidhi, 4/107, h. 2711.
[6] Zamakhshari, 4/464.