Tafseer of The Groups · Az-Zumar · 39:24
Then is he who will shield with his face the worst of the punishment on the Day of Resurrection [like one secure from it]? And it will be said to the wrongdoers, "Taste what you used to earn."
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 explanation of His word, the Exalted: أَفَمَنْ يَتَّقِي بِوَجْهِهِ سُوءَ الْعَذَابِ يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ وَقِيلَ لِلظَّالِمِينَ ذُوقُوا مَا كُنْتُمْ تَكْسِبُونَ (24) ("Is he, then, who on the Day of Resurrection must shield himself with his face against the terrible punishment [like one who is in safety]? And to the wrongdoers it is said: 'Taste what you have earned'") (24).
The scholars of interpretation (taʾwīl) differed concerning the manner in which this erring one shields himself with his face against the terrible punishment. Some said: it means that he is cast face-down upon his face into Hell (jahannam), and that is his "shielding" against it.
* Mention of those who said that:
Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr related to me, saying: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us, saying: ʿĪsā related to us; and al-Ḥārith related to me, saying: al-Ḥasan related to us, saying: Warqāʾ related to us — both on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning His word: ( أَفَمَنْ يَتَّقِي بِوَجْهِهِ سُوءَ الْعَذَابِ ) ("Is he, then, who must shield himself with his face against the terrible punishment"), he said: he falls face-down upon his face into the Fire. He says: it is comparable to أَفَمَنْ يُلْقَى فِي النَّارِ خَيْرٌ أَمْ مَنْ يَأْتِي آمِنًا يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ ("Is he who is cast into the Fire better, or he who comes secure on the Day of Resurrection?")?
Others said: it means that he is brought in fetters to the Fire and then cast into it, so that the first thing the Fire touches is his face. This is a statement reported on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās through a chain that I prefer not to mention on account of the weakness of its chain of transmission (isnād). This too belongs to that whose answer [to the question] has been omitted, because the indication in the aforementioned discourse suffices for it. The meaning of the discourse is: is he, then, who on the Day of Resurrection must shield himself with his face against the terrible punishment better, or he who delights in the gardens?
And His word: ( وَقِيلَ لِلظَّالِمِينَ ذُوقُوا مَا كُنْتُمْ تَكْسِبُونَ ) ("And to the wrongdoers it is said: 'Taste what you have earned'"). He says: and on that Day it is said to the wrongdoers — who have wronged themselves by earning for themselves the wrath of Allah — taste today, O people, the evil consequence of what you earned in the worldly life of disobedience toward Allah.
