Tafseer of Explained in detail · Fussilat · 41:28
That is the recompense of the enemies of Allah - the Fire. For them therein is the home of eternity as recompense for what they, of Our verses, were rejecting.
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 the saying of the Exalted: ذَلِكَ جَزَاءُ أَعْدَاءِ اللَّهِ النَّارُ لَهُمْ فِيهَا دَارُ الْخُلْدِ جَزَاءً بِمَا كَانُوا بِآيَاتِنَا يَجْحَدُونَ (28) ("That is the recompense of the enemies of Allah: the Fire. Therein they have the abode of eternity, as recompense for the fact that they used to deny Our signs.") (41:28)
The Exalted, whose mention is exalted, says: This is the recompense with which these who have disbelieved among the polytheists (mushrikīn) of Quraysh are recompensed — the recompense of the enemies of Allah. Then He, whose praise is exalted, began the announcement concerning the nature of that recompense and of what it consists, and He said: it is the Fire. The Fire is thus a clarification of the recompense and an explanation of it; it stands in the nominative because it refers back to it. Then He said: لَهُمْ فِيهَا دَارُ الْخُلْدِ ("Therein they have the abode of eternity"), that is to say: for these polytheists who ascribe associates to Allah there is in the Fire the abode of eternity, that is to say the abode of dwelling and abiding without end and without final term. The abode of which He, whose praise is exalted, announces that it is for them in the Fire is the Fire itself. This is eloquent because of the difference between the two expressions, as one says: "You have in your city a good abode," and "in Kufa a noble abode," while the abode is Kufa and the city itself. So that sounds good because of the difference in the expressions. It has been transmitted to us that in the reading of Ibn Masʿūd it reads: "ذَلكَ جَزَاءُ أعْدَاء اللهِ النَّارُ دَارُ الخُلْدِ" ("That is the recompense of the enemies of Allah: the Fire, the abode of eternity"). Therein lies a confirmation of what we have said concerning the explanation of it, namely that he gave "the abode" as an explanation of the Fire.
And His saying: جَزَاءً بِمَا كَانُوا بِآيَاتِنَا يَجْحَدُونَ ("as recompense for the fact that they used to deny Our signs") means: We did this which We did with these — namely that We gave them the Fire as recompense for their deed — as a recompense from Our side for their denial in the worldly life of Our signs with which We argued against them.
