لا يَذوقونَ فيها بَردًا وَلا شَرابًا

إِلّا حَميمًا وَغَسّاقًا

Tasting in it neither any coolness nor drink,

except boiling water and pus.

EXEGESIS

Dhawq (taste) is sometimes used for a small amount or sample (like a sip as opposed to a drink or gulp). However, this element is apparently not intended in the Quranic usages of this term. Instead, it means that they will actually taste and experience God’s punishment with all their being, as opposed to just seeing it from afar. Nevertheless, the aspect of smallness could make sense in verse 24: they will not have even a taste of any coolness or drink (40:49-50).

The exclusion in verse 25 refers to being disconnected from coolness and drink.^{‎[1]Tabrisi.J, 4/430.} The use of exception in this context is to emphasise the lack of any coolness or drink in hell, such that the closest thing and substitute to it would be boiling water and pus, which are completely at the opposite end of the spectrum. It could also be that this is a connected exception, because, after all, water and pus are liquids, and will serve as drinks for the people of hell.^{‎[2]Kashif, 7/501.} We seek refuge in God. Indeed We have prepared for the wrongdoers a fire whose curtains will surround them [on all sides]. If they cry out for help, they will be helped with a water like molten copper which will scald the faces. What an evil drink, and how ill a resting place! (18:29).

Ḥamīm: boiling hot water.^{‎[3]Raghib, under ḥ-m-m.}

Ghassāq: there are two meanings for the root ghasaqa: 1. Darkness and the fall of night.^{‎[4]Raghib, under gh-s-q; Tahqiq, under gh-s-q.} 2. Flow or flood.^{‎[5]Bahrayn, under gh-s-q.} Perhaps darkness and night are called ghasaq as they gradually descend, as if flowing, and cover the sky and the people (17:78).^{‎[6]Tahqiq, under gh-s-q.} Based on the first (and more famous) meaning, ghassāq is an exaggerated form of ghāsiq, meaning a dark night. Given the context of the verse, it must be something that one tastes, meaning either a food or drink. There is a similar verse elsewhere in the Quran: let them taste it: scalding water and pus (38:57). Thus, ḥamīm is what will burn their bowels, and ghassāq is what will darken their insides, either due to its heat or its nature. If a more general meaning of ‘taste’ is taken in verse 24, then ḥamīm may refer to the extreme heat they will suffer in hell, and ghassāq may indicate the extreme darkness they will experience.

The second meaning of this root is more compliant with the context of the verse. Based on this meaning, ghassāq is the pus that drips from the skins of the inhabitants of hell, as suggested by many exegetes and lexicologists. Other suggested meanings are: 1. A burning, cold liquid, as opposed to ḥamīm. Some lexicologists have specified that the famous meaning (pus) corresponds to ghassāq (stressed), and this meaning (paralysing cold water) corresponds to ghasāq, which is an alternative recitation of the verse.^{‎[7]Taj, under gh-s-q.} 2. Zamharīr, which means intense cold.^{‎[8]Nihayah, under gh-s-q; Bahrayn, under z-m-h-r; Tabari, 30/10, narrated from Ibn Abbas and many other early exegetes.} Based on these two meanings, ḥamīm would be an exception to sharāb (drink), and ghassāq would be an exception to bard (coolness).^{‎[9]Razi, 31/17.} In other words: the only coolness or drink that they will taste will be excruciating ones. 3. A foul-smelling, cold liquid.^{‎[10]Bahrayn, under gh-s-q.} 4. The flowing tears of the inhabitants of hell.^{‎[11]Nihayah, under gh-s-q.} It could be that ghassāq involves all or some of these aspects.

EXPOSITION

There are many verses that talk about the food and drink of the people of hell (6:70, 10:4, 22:19-20, 37:62-67, 38:57, 44:43-49, 47:15, 56:51-56, 56:93, 69:36, 88:5-7). The most recurring one is ḥamīm (boiling water), which is not only their drink, but something that will be poured over their heads (44:48), and a bath that they will be dragged and plunged into (40:71-72). As for those who are faithless, cloaks of fire will be cut out for them, and boiling water will be poured over their heads, with which their skins and entrails will be fused (22:19-20).

This could be a direct consequence, a manifestation, or even the very reality of their own acts: they were completely dedicated to the path and insinuations of Satan, plunging into wrongdoing and committing evil acts, without any share of God’s worship or pleasure in their lives. Or perhaps they did not feed and water the poor. That is why their position will be Neither cool nor beneficial (56:44) and they will be Tasting in it neither any coolness nor drink. In other words, we have to send our food and drink ahead from this world. We create what we will taste and drink by our actions here. Boiling water and pus are the very evil deeds and beliefs that we have in this world, whilst coolness and pleasant drink are sincere acts and true faith that we send ahead.

INSIGHTS FROM HADITH

1. The Prophet said: ‘If only one bucket of ghassāq were to be poured over the world it would make everyone in the world to putrefy and stink.’^{‎[12]Ahmad, 3/28, 83; Tirmidhi, 4/107, h. 2710; Taj, under gh-s-q. The hadith can be read with either ghassāq or ghasāq.}

Note: This confirms the third alternative meaning of ghassāq discussed in Exegesis: a foul-smelling liquid. Likewise, Ibn ʿUmar once asked a group of people: ‘Do you know what ghassāq is?’ They replied: ‘God knows best.’ He said: ‘It is thick pus. If a drop of it falls in the west, it would cause the people in the east to stink, and if a drop of it falls in the east, it would cause the people in the west to stink.’^{‎[13]Tabari, 30/10.} Overall, these narrations show that the intensity, power, and magnitude of things in the hereafter are not comparable to what we experience in this world.

2. Ibn Masʿūd said: ‘Ghassāq is one kind among the various kinds of punishment. It is an extreme cold that will make the inhabitants of hell ask God to punish them in the fire for a thousand years instead of a single day in Zamharī’^{‎[14]Qurtubi, 19/138; Bursawi, 10/303.}
3. Imam Ali (a) wrote in his letter to the people of Egypt: ‘Therefore, fear the fire whose hollow is deep, whose heat is intense, and whose punishment is always new. It is a place wherein there is no mercy. No call is heard in it, and no suffering is removed therein. If you can be extremely fearful of God and at the same time be hopeful of Him, then combine between the two, because every servant has as much [rightful] hope in his Lord as he is fearful of his Lord. Indeed, the most hopeful person in God is whoever fears Him the most.’^{‎[15]Nahj, letter 27.}

REVIEW OF TAFSĪR LITERATURE

Some exegetes have interpreted coolness (bard) in this verse as sleep. That is, the people of hell will have no rest or sleep there due to the intensity of the heat.^{‎[16]Tibyan, 10/244, narrated from Abū ʿUbaydah and al-Kindī.} According to al-Farrāʾ, sleep is called coolness (bard) because it alleviates the thirst of a thirsty individual. Some have argued for this interpretation saying that the people of hell will taste zamharīr (extreme cold), which contradicts the apparent meaning of bard.^{‎[17]Razi, 31/16, who has then rejected this meaning.}

This should be taken as a secondary meaning or a consequence of lack of coolness. It is more likely that this verse refers to the lack of any cool or relaxing shadow in hell: The shadow of a dense black smoke, neither cool nor beneficial (56:43-44); Get off toward the triple-forked shadow, which is neither shady nor is of any avail against the flame (77:30-31). This complies with the more general sense of taste discussed in Exegesis.^{‎[18]Mizan, 20/168.} Moreover, the context shows that what is meant by coolness is a comforting and alleviating one, not the excruciating cold of zamharīr – which, by the way, is never mentioned in the Quran. The same idea is seen in verses about shadows in hell: there will be shadows there, but not beneficial or comforting ones. Likewise, any coolness in hell will be a rather painful one, and any food or drink there will be a means of chastisement (18:29, 22:19-20, 44:43-46, 88:6-7).

It has been said that ghassāq is derived from the originally Persian term khāshāk, which literally means a mixture of dust and broken pieces of brushwood, leaves, thorns, and chaff. However, it is used to describe something that is worthless, despicable, and/or dirty.^{‎[19]Razi, 31/17, with some elaboration. Dehkhudā, Lughatnāmeh, under khāshāk.} The literal meaning of khāshāk would be evocative of the zaqqūm tree in hell (37:62-67, 44:43-48, 56:51-55), and more so of the term ḍarīʿ in the verse, They will have no food except cactus (88:6). However, since the previous verse talks about coolness and drink, it is more likely that ghassāq is a liquid. The commonly used meaning of khāshāk remains a possibility.

Some exegetes have astutely observed that these verses should not be limited to physical instances and applications. The hidden layers of meaning cannot be outlined with certainty, but here is one example: from a spiritual point of view, the inhabitants of hell will not taste the coolness of certitude (yaqīn) that removes the veils from one’s heart and settles one’s agitation. Nor will they taste the drinks of God’s love and beauty, for their hearts have been drenched in the love of this world and their egos. They will see their ignorance in the form of boiling water, and their immersion in darkness will manifest as ghassāq (dark, putrid liquid).^{‎[20]Abd al-Razzaq, 2/402; Bursawi, 10/306.}

[1] Tabrisi.J, 4/430.
[2] Kashif, 7/501.
[3] Raghib, under ḥ-m-m.
[4] Raghib, under gh-s-q; Tahqiq, under gh-s-q.
[5] Bahrayn, under gh-s-q.
[6] Tahqiq, under gh-s-q.
[7] Taj, under gh-s-q.
[8] Nihayah, under gh-s-q; Bahrayn, under z-m-h-r; Tabari, 30/10, narrated from Ibn Abbas and many other early exegetes.
[9] Razi, 31/17.
[10] Bahrayn, under gh-s-q.
[11] Nihayah, under gh-s-q.
[12] Ahmad, 3/28, 83; Tirmidhi, 4/107, h. 2710; Taj, under gh-s-q. The hadith can be read with either ghassāq or ghasāq.
[13] Tabari, 30/10.
[14] Qurtubi, 19/138; Bursawi, 10/303.
[15] Nahj, letter 27.
[16] Tibyan, 10/244, narrated from Abū ʿUbaydah and al-Kindī.
[17] Razi, 31/16, who has then rejected this meaning.
[18] Mizan, 20/168.
[19] Razi, 31/17, with some elaboration. Dehkhudā, Lughatnāmeh, under khāshāk.
[20] Abd al-Razzaq, 2/402; Bursawi, 10/306.