فَيُعَذِّبُهُ اللَّهُ العَذابَ الأَكبَرَ

Him Allah will punish with the greatest punishment.

EXEGESIS

Greatest (akbar) punishment could either mean never-ending (in quantity) or greatest in severity (quality).^{‎[1]Qummi, 2/419.} Whereas others in hellfire will also be inflicted with severe punishment, those described here will be punished with the greatest punishment.^{‎[2]Razi, 31/147.}

The greatest punishment may also mean hell itself, as compared to any other punishment in this world for it is the greatest punishment imaginable to man.

EXPOSITION

A reading of the Quran and hadith make it clear that paradise and hellfire are multi-layered and multi-level. Not all will receive the same reward or punishment and there are degrees (darakāt) of chastisement in hell just as there are ranks (darajāt) of reward in paradise.

This greatest punishment matches the great fire (al-nār al-kubrā) mentioned in the previous surah, where the Prophet is also commanded: So remind, for reminding is indeed beneficial: he who fears will heed the reminder, and the most wretched will shun it – he who will enter the great fire, then neither live in it nor die (87:9-13).

Ibn Arabi tells us those who shun the admonitions of the Prophet are deserving of this greatest punishment in the great fire (87:12) for they are ‘veiled from the Absolute (al-muṭlaq) at all levels of existence’.^{‎[3]Ibn Arabi, 2/428.}

REVIEW OF TAFSĪR LITERATURE

Rāzī suggests this greatest punishment could be in this world when they are killed and their wealth and cattle are confiscated and their survivors are taken as prisoners. However, most exegetes hold the consensus that the greatest punishment is that of hellfire in the afterlife, which is greater than that of this world: and the punishment of the hereafter will surely be greater (akbar), had they known (39:26). See also 32:21.

[1] Qummi, 2/419.
[2] Razi, 31/147.
[3] Ibn Arabi, 2/428.