Tafseer of The Overthrowing · At-Takwir · 81:12
And when Hellfire is set ablaze
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.
And His statement ( وَإِذَا الْجَحِيمُ سُعِّرَتْ ) — "and when the Hellfire is kindled." The Exalted, whose praise is exalted, says: and when [the fire] beneath the Hellfire (al-jaḥīm) is stoked so that it becomes heated.
Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda: ( وَإِذَا الْجَحِيمُ سُعِّرَتْ ) — the wrath of Allah (ghaḍab Allah) and the sins of the children of Ādam have kindled it.
The Qurʾān reciters differed concerning its reading. Most of the reciters of Medina read it ( سُعِّرَتْ ) with doubling (tashdīd) of the ʿayn, in the meaning of: it was stoked beneath, repeatedly, time after time. And most of the reciters of Kūfa read it with lightening (takhfīf). The ruling concerning that is that they are two well-known readings, and with whichever of the two the reciter recites, he does correctly.
