Tafseer of Those drawn up in Ranks · As-Saaffaat · 37:62
Is Paradise a better accommodation or the tree of zaqqum?
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.
Explanation of the words of the Exalted: أَذَلِكَ خَيْرٌ نُزُلا أَمْ شَجَرَةُ الزَّقُّومِ (37:62) ("Is that a better reception, or the Zaqqūm tree?") (62).
The Exalted, whose praise is sublime, says: Is this which I have given to these believers — those whose characteristic I have described — of honor from Me in Paradise, and with which I have provided them therein of delights, better, or that which I have prepared for the inhabitants of the Fire (al-nār) of the Zaqqūm? By "the reception" (al-nuzul) is meant: the abundance, and concerning it there are two forms of pronunciation: nuzul and nuzl; one says of food that increases and brings blessing: it is food that has nuzul and nuzl. And His words أَمْ شَجَرَةُ الزَّقُّومِ ("or the Zaqqūm tree"): it has been related that, when Allah the Exalted sent down this verse, the polytheists (mushrikīn) said: "How can a tree grow in the Fire, while the Fire burns trees?"
