Tafseer of The Rock · Al-Hijr · 15:44
It has seven gates; for every gate is of them a portion designated."
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.
لَهَا سَبْعَةُ أَبْوَابٍ ("It has seven gates"): this means — Hell (jahannam) has seven layers (aṭbāq); for each layer of them — that is to say, of the followers of Iblīs — a portion (juzʾ), that is to say, a share and an allotted part.
It has been transmitted that the gates of Hell are layers, one above the other.
Those who said this are mentioned:
Muḥammad ibn al-Muthannā related to us, saying: Muḥammad ibn Jaʿfar related to us, saying: Shuʿba related to us, saying: I heard Abū Hārūn al-Ghanawī say: I heard Ḥiṭṭān say: I heard ʿAlī (may Allah be pleased with him) deliver a sermon and he said: "The gates of Hell are like this" — and Shuʿba laid one hand upon the other.
Yaʿqūb related to me, saying: Ibn ʿUlayya related to us, on the authority of Abū Hārūn al-Ghanawī, on the authority of Ḥiṭṭān ibn ʿAbdullāh, who said: ʿAlī said: "Do you know how the gates of the Fire are?" We said: "Yes, like these doors here." He said: "No, but like this" — and Abū Hārūn described layers, one above the other, and Abū Bishr did the same.
Al-Ḥasan ibn Muḥammad related to us, saying: Ismāʿīl ibn Ibrāhīm related to us, on the authority of Abū Hārūn al-Ghanawī, on the authority of Ḥiṭṭān ibn ʿAbdullāh, on the authority of ʿAlī, who said: "Do you know how the gates of the Fire are?" They said: "Like these doors here." He said: "No, but like this" — and he described layers, one above the other.
Hārūn ibn Isḥāq related to us, saying: Muṣʿab ibn al-Miqdām related to us, saying: Isrāʾīl informed us, saying: Abū Isḥāq related to us, on the authority of Hubayra, on the authority of ʿAlī, who said: "The gates of Hell are seven, layers one above the other; the first fills up, then the second, then the third, until they are all filled."
Al-Ḥasan ibn Muḥammad related to us, saying: Shabāba related to us, saying: Isrāʾīl related to us, on the authority of Abū Isḥāq, on the authority of Hubayra, on the authority of ʿAlī, who said: "The gates of Hell are seven, layers one above the other" — and he pointed with his fingers to the first, then the second, then the third, until they are all filled.
Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Yaḥyā ibn Wāḍiḥ related to us, saying: Yūnus ibn Abī Isḥāq related to us, on the authority of his father, on the authority of Hubayra ibn Maryam, who said: I heard ʿAlī say: "The gates of Hell are layers, one above the other; the first fills up, then the one that follows it, until the last."
Al-Ḥasan ibn Muḥammad related to us, saying: ʿAlī related to us, saying: Muḥammad ibn Yazīd al-Wāsiṭī informed us, on the authority of Jahḍam, who said: I heard ʿIkrima say concerning His word لَهَا سَبْعَةُ أَبْوَابٍ : he said: "It has seven layers."
Al-Qāsim related to us, saying: al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Ḥajjāj related to me, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj, concerning His word لَهَا سَبْعَةُ أَبْوَابٍ , he said: "The first is Hell (jahannam), then laẓā, then al-ḥuṭama, then al-saʿīr, then saqar, then al-jaḥīm, then al-hāwiya — and in al-jaḥīm is Abū Jahl."
Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning His word لَهَا سَبْعَةُ أَبْوَابٍ لِكُلِّ بَابٍ مِنْهُمْ جُزْءٌ مَقْسُومٌ : "They are — by Allah — abodes (manāzil) in accordance with their deeds."
