وَٱسْتَفْتَحُوا۟ وَخَابَ كُلُّ جَبَّارٍ عَنِيدٍ · مِّن وَرَآئِهِۦ جَهَنَّمُ وَيُسْقَىٰ مِن مَّآءٍ صَدِيدٍ · يَتَجَرَّعُهُۥ وَلَا يَكَادُ يُسِيغُهُۥ وَيَأْتِيهِ ٱلْمَوْتُ مِن كُلِّ مَكَانٍ وَمَا هُوَ بِمَيِّتٍ ۖ وَمِن وَرَآئِهِۦ عَذَابٌ غَلِيظٌ
Wa'staftaḥū wa khāba kullu jabbārin ʿanīd · Min warāʾihi jahannamu wa yusqā min māʾin ṣadīd · Yatajarraʿuhu wa lā yakādu yusīghuhu wa yaʾtīhi'l-mawtu min kulli makānin wa mā huwa bi-mayyit · Wa min warāʾihi ʿadhābun ghalīẓ
"They sought a decision; and every obstinate tyrant came to nothing. · Before him is Hell; and he is given to drink of a water of pus. · He tries to gulp it down and can hardly swallow it. Death comes to him from every side, yet he does not die. And beyond that is a heavy punishment."
The root ف-ت-ح was analysed in detail in al-Fatḥ by way of the sūra's name (to open what is closed; and the sense of giving judgement: fattāḥ — the one who decides). I do not repeat it here.
| Reading | Agent | What is sought |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | The messengers | That judgement be given between them |
| 2 | Those who deny | A challenge: "if punishment is to come, let it come" |
The root's sense of "giving judgement" makes the first reading easier, and at al-Shuʿarāʾ 26/118 Noah's prayer is in exactly this pattern: fa'ftaḥ baynī wa baynahum fatḥā. I record this as an indication, not as a preference.
The root ج-ب-ر: to set a broken bone by force, to bring a thing by force into a certain state. Jabīra — the splint for binding a fracture. From this comes jabbār: one who forces his will upon another.
The root ع-ن-د: to set oneself against knowingly, to deviate. The lexicographers define ʿinād as "to reject the truth although one knows it".
That the two attributes come side by side is worth recording: the one conveys conduct towards another person (tyranny), the other an attitude towards the truth (obstinacy). That is, the description looks in two directions at once.
And the same pair had occurred at Qāf 50/24 (kullu kaffārin ʿanīd). There it is paired with kaffār, here with jabbār.
The root و-ر-ي / و-ر-أ. Warāʾ is among the words in Arabic that can mean both "behind" and "before", and the lexicographers explain this by the root's core of "what lies outside the field of vision": the unseen side may be behind as well as ahead.
The construct occurs twice in these three verses: in 16 for Hell, in 17 for the heavy punishment. What lies between the two occurrences must be recorded: in between are the water given to drink and the death that does not come. That is, the sentence builds a frame — the scene is pressed between two warāʾs.
The root ص-د-د, with which ṣadīd is connected, is according to the lexicographers the pus of a wound, a discharge mixed with blood.
And the word has an echo within the sūra: in the third verse there was wa yaṣuddūna ʿan sabīli'llāh (those who turn others away from the path of God). Two words from the same root, one a verb and one a noun. I record this as an observation about sound and root; I draw no link of meaning between the two words, because the lexicographers are not of one opinion about the root of ṣadīd.
The root ج-ر-ع: to sip. The tafaʿʿul form here conveys doing a thing with difficulty, little by little: yatajarraʿu — "he tries to drink it down gulp by gulp, with effort."
The root س-و-غ: a drink's passing easily down the throat. Sāʾigh — easily swallowed. The word had been used at Fāṭir 35/12 for sweet water: hādhā ʿadhbun furātun sāʾighun sharābuh.
| Place | Word | State |
|---|---|---|
| Fāṭir 35/12 | Sāʾighun sharābuh | Easy to drink |
| Ibrāhīm 14/17 | Lā yakādu yusīghuh | It will not go down the throat |
I record this as an observation about the word order: the verse does not set up a contradiction; it describes a continuance. Death's "coming from every side" is the holding of the ending permanently at the threshold. And at al-Aʿlā 87/13 (thumma lā yamūtu fīhā wa lā yaḥyā) the same state had been conveyed with different words. I rely on that treatment.