لِلطّاغينَ مَآبًا

A resort for the rebels.

EXEGESIS

Al-ṭāghīn is from the root ṭaghā, which is to transgress the boundaries and exceed the limits. The Quran has notably used this root in several places to describe Pharaoh, although this is not the only usage of the root. It could include those who transgress and rebel against God’s rules, His messengers, and the rights of His servants.^{‎[1]Furqan, 30/41.} Verses 27-28 describe the qualities of rebels and why these punishments shall be meted out to them.

Maʾāb is the place of returning.^{‎[2]Raghib, under a-w-b; Tahqiq, under a-w-b.} The Quran has referred to the hereafter as a return to God in several places. This return could then either end up in hell or with the Lord (40:39). The term maʾāb suggests that these individuals (the rebels) used to be in hell previously and they are now returning to it. There are two possible explanations for this: 1. Our true home is our eternal abode. We have been created for the hereafter,^{‎[3]Nahj, letter 31.} and this life is only a transient state. We are on a journey to where we truly belong. In this sense one may refer to heaven and hell as places of return as they mark the end of one’s journey. 2. This could refer to the rebels’ previous immersion in sin and their engrossment in wrongdoing during their life in this world. This is because defiance and evildoing are the reality and essence of hell (and vice versa). They will then return to where they were and where they belong to once again, after being resurrected from the dead.^{‎[4]Bihar, 8/275, with some elaboration.} It is the same place and position, but with a different form, and thus the usage of the term maʾāb (resort, place of return). Look! They have already fallen into temptation and indeed hell besieges the faithless (9:49; also see 29:54).

EXPOSITION

Hell will be a resort for some individuals, meaning the place where they belong, as if they are originally from there. This is the case of those who transform their initial divine makeup (fiṭrah) for the worse by their wrongdoings, evil intentions, and incorrect beliefs. Indeed the home (or mother) of some people will be hell: But as for him whose deeds weigh light in the scales, his home will be the abyss (101:8-9).

Whoever is distanced from his root for long,

One day he’ll return to where he belongs.^{‎[5]Rūmī, Mathnawī, vol. 1, line 4.}

The same idea is found in the following verses: As for him who was rebellious, and preferred the life of this world, his refuge will indeed be hell (79:37-39).

[1] Furqan, 30/41.
[2] Raghib, under a-w-b; Tahqiq, under a-w-b.
[3] Nahj, letter 31.
[4] Bihar, 8/275, with some elaboration.
[5] Rūmī, Mathnawī, vol. 1, line 4.