هٰذا ۚ وَإِنَّ لِلطّاغينَ لَشَرَّ مَآبٍ

This [is for the righteous], and as for the rebellious there will surely be a bad destination.

EXPOSITION

Again, in keeping with the theme of threes, for a third time God emphasises that This – all the descriptions that preceded – is His promise to the God-wary. This usage of anaphora adds rhythm to the passages and makes them more pleasing to recite.

The ones who were rebellious and disobeyed God’s commands, their lot will be very different: instead of a good destination of paradise, there will be for them a bad destination.

To be rebellious is to go against the command of God and deviate from the purpose for which one was created. It is in essence a rebellion against one’s own true nature and thus a perversion of creation. The selection of rebellious to describe the evildoers is purposeful and foreshadows what is to follow about the story of Iblīs and his rebellion against God.