Tafseer of The Criterion · Al-Furqaan · 25:12
When the Hellfire sees them from a distant place, they will hear its fury and roaring.
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.
إِذَا رَأَتْهُمْ مِنْ مَكَانٍ بَعِيدٍ — He says: When this Fire which We have prepared for these slanderers sees their persons from afar, it kindles its rage against them — and that is its boiling and seething. One says, "So-and-so blazed up in rage against so-and-so," when he became furious at him so that his breast boiled with rage against him and this became apparent from his speech. وَزَفِيرًا (and a hoarse groaning): that is its sound.
When someone asks: But how can it be said سَمِعُوا لَهَا تَغَيُّظًا (they heard it kindling in rage) when the kindling of rage is not audible? Then we answer: Its meaning is: they heard the sound of its rage-kindling through the blazing burning.
Maḥmūd ibn Khaddāsh related to me, saying: Muḥammad ibn Yazīd al-Wāsiṭī related to us, saying: Aṣbaʿ ibn Zayd al-Warrāq related to us, on the authority of Khālid ibn Kathīr, on the authority of Fudayk, on the authority of a man from the companions of Muḥammad ﷺ, who said: The Prophet of Allah ﷺ said: "Whoever says about me something that I did not say, let him take up an abode between the two eyes of Hell (jahannam)." They asked: O Prophet of Allah, does it then have eyes? He said: "Have you then not heard what Allah says: إِذَا رَأَتْهُمْ مِنْ مَكَانٍ بَعِيدٍ ... the verse."
Al-Ḥasan related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Razzāq informed us, saying: Maʿmar informed us, concerning His word: سَمِعُوا لَهَا تَغَيُّظًا وَزَفِيرًا — he said: Al-Manṣūr ibn al-Muʿtamir informed me, on the authority of Mujāhid, on the authority of ʿUbayd ibn ʿUmayr, who said: Truly, Hell (jahannam) makes a sound so violent that no angel and no prophet remains but that he falls down with trembling limbs, until even Ibrāhīm kneels down upon his knees and says: "O Lord, today I ask You only for myself!"
Aḥmad ibn Ibrāhīm al-Dawraqī related to us, saying: ʿUbayd Allāh ibn Mūsā related to us, saying: Isrāʾīl informed us, on the authority of Abū Yaḥyā, on the authority of Mujāhid, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, who said: Truly, a man is dragged toward the Fire and it contracts and one part of it shrinks back toward another part. Al-Raḥmān then says to it: What is the matter with you? It says: He seeks refuge with me from You! He says: "Release My servant." And truly, a man is dragged toward the Fire and he says: "O Lord, that was not my expectation of You!" He says: "What was your expectation?" He answers: That Your mercy would encompass me. Allah says: "Release My servant." And truly, a man is dragged toward the Fire, and the Fire craves him as a mule craves barley, and it makes a sound so that none remains but that he is afraid.
