Tafseer of The Cave · Al-Kahf · 18:53
And the criminals will see the Fire and will be certain that they are to fall therein. And they will not find from it a way elsewhere.
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.
The exposition of the interpretation of the words of the Exalted: وَرَأَى الْمُجْرِمُونَ النَّارَ (18:53)
He says: And the polytheists (mushrikūn) beheld the Fire on that Day. فَظَنُّوا أَنَّهُمْ مُوَاقِعُوهَا — He says: And they knew for certain that they would enter it.
As al-Ḥasan ibn Yaḥyā related to us, who said: ʿAbd al-Razzāq informed us, who said: Maʿmar informed us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning his words فَظَنُّوا أَنَّهُمْ مُوَاقِعُوهَا : "They knew it for certain," he said.
Yūnus related to me, who said: Ibn Wahb informed us, who said: ʿAmr ibn al-Ḥārith informed me, on the authority of Darrāj, on the authority of Abū al-Haytham, on the authority of Abū Saʿīd al-Khudrī, on the authority of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, that he said: "Verily, the unbeliever (kāfir) sees Hell (jahannam) and thinks that it will come to meet him from a distance of a journey of forty years."
His words: وَلَمْ يَجِدُوا عَنْهَا مَصْرِفًا — He says: And they found no escape from the Fire that they saw, no turning-away to which they could deviate. He says: They found no alternative to entering it, for Allah had decreed that against them. From maṣrif in the sense of "escape" (maʿdil) derives the saying of Abū Kabīr al-Hudhalī:
"أزُهَيْرُ هَـلْ عَـنْ شَيْبَةٍ مِنْ مَصْرِفِ / أمْ لا خُـلُودَ لبَاذِلٍ مُتَكَلِّفِ"
(footnote 5)
