Tafseer of The Criterion · Al-Furqaan · 25:69
Multiplied for him is the punishment on the Day of Resurrection, and he will abide therein humiliated -
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.
His statement: يُضَاعَفْ لَهُ الْعَذَابُ يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ ("the punishment will be doubled for him on the Day of Resurrection") (25:69). The Qurʾān reciters differed over its reading. The general reciters of the cities, with the exception of ʿĀṣim, read it as يُضَاعَفْ ("yuḍāʿaf," in the jussive/apocopate) and وَيَخْلُدْ ("wa-yakhlud," likewise in the apocopate). And ʿĀṣim read it as يضَاعَفُ ("yuḍāʿafu," in the nominative) and وَيَخْلُدُ ("wa-yakhludu," in the nominative), both as a new beginning of a sentence (ibtidāʾ); for in his view the utterance is complete at يَلْقَ أَثَامًا ("he will meet the recompense for his sin"), after which he begins a new sentence with His statement: يُضَاعَفُ لَهُ الْعَذَابُ ("the punishment will be doubled for him").
The correct reading in this, according to us, is: the apocopate of both verbs together — "yuḍāʿaf" and "yakhlud" — and that is because it is a further explanation of "al-athām" (the recompense for the sin) and not a verb connected to it. Were it indeed a verb of it, then the correct form would be the nominative, as the poet said:
When you come to him, while you peer in the darkness toward the light of his fire, you will find the best fire, and along with it the best kindler.
He put "taʿshū" (you peer) in the nominative, because it is a verb at his statement "taʾtihi" (you come to him); the meaning is: when you come to him, peering in the darkness.
And His statement وَيَخْلُدْ فِيهِ مُهَانًا ("and he will abide therein forever, humiliated") means: and he will abide therein unto infinity, in humiliation.
