وَأَصحابُ المَشأَمَةِ ما أَصحابُ المَشأَمَةِ

And the people of misery – and what are the people of misery?

EXEGESIS

Mashʾamah means misery, misfortune, wretchedness, and being cursed, which are all different forms of spiritual weakness.^{‎[1]Tahqiq, under sh-ʾ-m.} The root is also used for the left hand or the left side, due to the belief that the left side is a source of misery and misfortune.^{‎[2]Bahrayn, under sh-ʾ-m.} Yumn and shuʾm are used in the context of omen and augury; however, in the hereafter, the only source of good and bad omen is one’s own actions: Your augury is with you (36:19); We have attached every person’s omen to his neck, and We shall bring it out for him on the Day of Resurrection (17:13). It is noteworthy that Yemen and Shām (Syria) are also from the same roots, because if someone in Mecca faces the north, Yemen will be on the right and Shām will be on the left.^{‎[3]Qaraati, 9/419.}

The repetition that is seen in these verses – what are the people of the right hand and what are the people of misery – is a means of emphasising the position of these groups, either as a place of utter bliss or a place of utter damnation. The same emphasis and exaggeration is found in the next verse, where al-sābiqūn (the foremost ones) is repeated – with a tone of praise and admiration. It could also be a means of showing that there is no adequate description for them; all one can say is that the foremost ones are the foremost ones (verse 10).^{‎[4]Razi, 29/389-390.} Another explanation for this repetition is found under the Exposition of verses 13 and 14.

For more elaboration on the people of the right hand, see verses 27-40, and for more elaboration on the people of misery (or the people of the left hand) see verses 41-56.

INSIGHTS FROM OTHER TRADITIONS

1. And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats: And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left.^{‎[5]Matthew 25:32-33.}
2. Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels:^{‎[6]Matthew 25:41.}

[1] Tahqiq, under sh-ʾ-m.
[2] Bahrayn, under sh-ʾ-m.
[3] Qaraati, 9/419.
[4] Razi, 29/389-390.
[5] Matthew 25:32-33.
[6] Matthew 25:41.