Tafseer of The Heights · Al-A'raaf · 7:41
They will have from Hell a bed and over them coverings [of fire]. And thus do We recompense the wrongdoers.
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 statement of the Exalted: لَهُمْ مِنْ جَهَنَّمَ مِهَادٌ وَمِنْ فَوْقِهِمْ غَوَاشٍ وَكَذَلِكَ نَجْزِي الظَّالِمِينَ ("For them there is from Hell (jahannam) a resting-bed, and above them are coverings; and thus do We requite the wrongdoers") (41).
Abū Jaʿfar said: The Exalted, whose praise is exalted, says: for those who declared Our signs to be lies and arrogantly turned away from them = (from Hell (jahannam) a resting-bed (mihād)).
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= And that is what they have spread out for themselves of that upon which one sits and lies, like the bedding that is spread out, and the carpet that is rolled out. (35)
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= (and above them are coverings (ghawāsh)).
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And that is the plural of "ghāshiya", and it is that which envelops and covers them from above.
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The meaning of the sentence is only: for them there is from Hell a resting-bed from below, bedding, and from above it coverings; and they find themselves between them.
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And in similar terms the commentators have spoken.
* Mention of who said that:
14655 — Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, saying: my father related to us, on the authority of Sufyān, on the authority of Mūsā ibn ʿUbayda, on the authority of Muḥammad ibn Kaʿb: (for them there is from Hell a resting-bed), he said: the bedding = (and above them are coverings), he said: the blankets.
14656 — Abū Kurayb related to us, saying: Jābir ibn Nūḥ related to us, on the authority of Abū Rawq, on the authority of al-Ḍaḥḥāk: (for them there is from Hell a resting-bed and above them are coverings), he said: "the resting-bed" is the bedding, and "the coverings" are the blankets.
14657 — Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥusayn related to me, saying: Aḥmad ibn Mufaḍḍal related to us, saying: Asbāṭ related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī: (for them there is from Hell a resting-bed and above them are coverings), as for "the resting-bed", that is like the form of the bedding = and "the coverings" envelop them from above.
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As for His statement (and thus do We requite the wrongdoers (ẓālimīn)), He says: and thus do We reward and requite whoever has wronged himself and has thereby earned for himself the wrath of Allah which he cannot endure, through his disbelief in his Lord and his denial of His prophets. (36)
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The footnotes:
(35) See the explanation of "al-mihād" in the foregoing 4:246 / 6:229 / 7:494.
(36) See the explanation of "al-jazāʾ" and "al-ẓulm" in the foregoing of the linguistic indices (jazā) and (ẓalama).
