لا بارِدٍ وَلا كَريمٍ

Neither cool nor beneficial.

EXEGESIS

Neither cool nor beneficial apparently refers to both the extreme heat as a physical punishment and humiliation as a spiritual and psychological punishment. Often it is an act of respecting and honouring the guests to direct them to a cool shade and to provide a shadow for them. However, the inhabitants of hell are directed to a shadow that is lā karīm, meaning not honourable. This is exactly the opposite of the state of the inhabitants of paradise: they will be held in honour (37:42). Another meaning of lā karīm is not good, useful, or beneficial.^{‎[1]Lisan; Taj, under k-r-m.} In this case, lā karīm would emphasise and generalise lā bārid: it is not cool, and there is no benefit to it whatsoever. Another meaning suggested by Qatādah is that it is not a cool place in which to dwell (lā bārid), and it is not even nice to look at (lā karīm).^{‎[2]Tibyan, 9/499.} Finally, karīm (noble) is used as an attribute of God, His angels, and His close servants in many verses of the Quran. Therefore, lā karīm would deny every element of proximity to God and His intimate angels and servants – which would again be a spiritual and psychological punishment, as opposed to lā bārid which is a physical one.

INSIGHTS FROM OTHER TRADITIONS

1. The great day of the LORD is near, it is near, and hasteth greatly, even the voice of the day of the LORD: the mighty man shall cry there bitterly. That day is a day of wrath, a day of trouble and distress, a day of wasteness and desolation, a day of darkness and gloominess, a day of clouds and thick darkness, And I will bring distress upon men, that they shall walk like blind men, because they have sinned against the LORD: and their blood shall be poured out as dust, and their flesh as the dung.^{‎[3]Zephaniah 1:14-15, 17.}

[1] Lisan; Taj, under k-r-m.
[2] Tibyan, 9/499.
[3] Zephaniah 1:14-15, 17.