Tafseer of Abraham · Ibrahim · 14:16
Before him is Hell, and he will be given a drink of purulent water.
Important: The Arabic source text is always authoritative. This translation is a study aid and has not been verified by scholars — do not use it as a basis for religious proof or for deriving rulings (ahkam). When in doubt, always consult the Arabic text and a qualified scholar.
Abū Jaʿfar said: the Almighty, exalted be His mention, says: مِن وَرَائِهِ (before him) — before every arrogant one: جَهَنَّمُ (Hell, jahannam) — toward which they descend.
* * *
"Warāʾ" (behind/beyond) in this place has the meaning of "before" (amām), as one says: "death is wārāʾaka" — that is: before you, in front of you. As the poet said:
"You threaten me while I am behind the Banū Riyāḥ — you lie: your hands shall not reach me."
— he means: "behind the Banū Riyāḥ," that is, before the Banū Riyāḥ and in front of them.
* * *
Some grammarians of the Basran school said: by the word مِن وَرَائِهِ (from behind him / before him) is meant: from before him; for it is behind (warāʾa) what he is now undergoing. So too one says: "all this is warāʾaka" — that is: it will come upon you, for it is behind (warāʾa) what you are now undergoing, because what you are now undergoing was before that and lies up against it. And he said: وَكَانَ وَرَاءَهُم مَّلِكٌ [Sūrah al-Kahf: 79] — in this meaning, that is: what they were undergoing had a king before them.
* * *
Some grammarians of the Kūfan school said: this is mostly permissible with respect to times, for time passes by you and thus becomes behind you. So too كَانَ وَرَاءَهُم مَّلِكٌ — for they pass by him and he becomes behind them.
* * *
Some said: it belongs to the words that have opposite meanings (ḥurūf al-aḍdād) — that is: warāʾ can mean both "before" and "behind."
* * *
His word وَيُسْقَىٰ مِن مَّاءٍ صَدِيدٍ (And he is given to drink of water that is pus) — He says: he is given to drink of water; then the Almighty, exalted be His praise, clarifies which water it is and says: it is "ṣadīd" (pus). Therefore "ṣadīd" is, in its case ending, referred back to "water," because it is a clarification of it.
* * *
"Al-ṣadīd" (pus) is the pus and blood.
* * *
So too did the scholars of exegesis explain it.
Mention of who said that:
20626. Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr related to me, saying: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us, saying: ʿĪsā related to us — and al-Ḥārith related to me, saying: al-Ḥasan related to us, saying: Warqāʾ related to us — and al-Ḥasan ibn Muḥammad related to us, saying: Shabāba related to us, saying: Warqāʾ related to us — all on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning His word مِن مَّاءٍ صَدِيدٍ — he said: pus and blood.
20627. Al-Muthanná related to us, saying: Abū Ḥudhayfa related to us, saying: Shibl related to us, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid — identically.
20628. Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning His word وَيُسْقَىٰ مِن مَّاءٍ صَدِيدٍ — "al-ṣadīd" is what oozes from his flesh and skin.
20629. Al-Ḥasan ibn Yaḥyā related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Razzāq related to us, saying: Maʿmar related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning His word وَيُسْقَىٰ مِن مَّاءٍ صَدِيدٍ — he said: what oozes between his flesh and skin.
20630. Al-Muthanná related to me, saying: Isḥāq related to us, saying: Hishām related to us, on the authority of someone he named, on the authority of al-Ḍaḥḥāk: وَيُسْقَىٰ مِن مَّاءٍ صَدِيدٍ — he said: he means by "ṣadīd": what comes out of the bowels of the unbeliever (kāfir), mixed with pus and blood.