Tafseer of Defrauding · Al-Mutaffifin · 83:7
No! Indeed, the record of the wicked is in sijjeen.
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 exposition of the explanation of His exalted word: "Kallā inna kitāba l-fujjāri lafī sijjīn" (Nay! Indeed, the record of the wicked is in Sijjīn) (7)
The Exalted, whose remembrance is exalted, says: (Kallā) — that is to say: the matter is not as these unbelievers suppose, namely that they will not be resurrected nor punished. Indeed, their record in which are written down their deeds that they used to perform in the worldly life, (lafī sijjīn) — and that is the seventh, lowest earth. It is a form of "faʿīl" derived from al-sijn [imprisonment], just as one says: a man is sikkīr [a drunkard] from al-sukr [drunkenness], and fisīq [a depraved person] from al-fisq [depravity].
The exegetes have differed concerning the meaning of this. Some of them said the same as what we have said about it.
Mention of those who said that:
Ibn Bashshār related to us, he said: Abū Aḥmad related to us, he said: Sufyān related to us, from Manṣūr, from Mujāhid, from Mughīth ibn Sumayy: (Inna kitāba l-fujjāri lafī sijjīn) — he said: in the seventh earth.
Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, he said: Mahrān related to us, from Sufyān, from Manṣūr, from Mujāhid, from Mughīth ibn Sumayy, he said: (Inna kitāba l-fujjāri lafī sijjīn) — he said: the lowest earth. He said: Iblīs is chained with iron and fetters in the lowest earth.
Yūnus related to me, he said: Ibn Wahb informed us, he said: Jarīr ibn Ḥāzim informed me, from Sulaymān al-Aʿmash, from Shimr ibn ʿAṭiyya, from Hilāl ibn Yasāf, he said: We were sitting with Kaʿb — I, Rabīʿ ibn Khuthaym, Khālid ibn ʿUrʿura, and a group of our companions — when Ibn ʿAbbās came to us and sat down beside Kaʿb. He said: O Kaʿb, tell me about Sijjīn. Kaʿb said: As for Sijjīn: it is the seventh, lowest earth, and in it are the souls of the unbelievers, beneath the boundary of Iblīs.
Bishr related to us, he said: Yazīd related to us, he said: Saʿīd related to us, from Qatāda, concerning His word: (Inna kitāba l-fujjāri lafī sijjīn) — it has been mentioned that ʿAbdullāh ibn ʿAmr used to say: it is the lowest earth, in it are the souls of the unbelievers, and their deeds are evil deeds.
Ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us, he said: Ibn Thawr related to us, from Maʿmar, from Qatāda: (fī sijjīn) — he said: in the lowest part of the seventh earth.
Muḥammad ibn Saʿd related to me, he said: my father related to me, he said: my uncle related to me, he said: my father related to me, from his father, from Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning His word: (Inna kitāba l-fujjāri lafī sijjīn) — he says: their deeds are in a record in the lowest earth.
Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr related to me, he said: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us, he said: ʿĪsā related to us; and al-Ḥārith related to me, he said: al-Ḥasan related to us, he said: Warqāʾ related to us — all from Ibn Abī Najīḥ, from Mujāhid, concerning the word of Allah: (lafī sijjīn) — he said: their deeds are in the seventh earth; they do not ascend.
Al-Ḥārith related to me, he said: al-Ḥasan related to us, he said: Warqāʾ related to us, from Ibn Abī Najīḥ, from Mujāhid, likewise.
ʿUmar ibn Ismāʿīl ibn Mujālid related to me, he said: Muṭarrif ibn Māzin, judge of Yemen, related to us, from Maʿmar, from Qatāda, he said: (Sijjīn) — the seventh earth.
It was related to me from al-Ḥusayn, he said: I heard Abū Muʿādh say: ʿUbayd related to us, he said: I heard al-Ḍaḥḥāk say concerning His word: (lafī sijjīn) — he says: in the lowest earth.
Ibn Bashshār related to us, he said: Sulaymān related to us, he said: Abū Hilāl related to us, he said: Qatāda related to us, concerning His word: (Inna kitāba l-fujjāri lafī sijjīn) — he said: the seventh, lowest earth.
Yūnus related to me, he said: Ibn Wahb informed us, he said: Ibn Zayd said concerning His word: (Kallā inna kitāba l-fujjāri lafī sijjīn) — he said: it is said that Sijjīn is the lowest earth, and it is said: at the lowest heaven.
Others said: rather, that is the boundary of Iblīs.
Mention of those who said that:
Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, he said: Yaʿqūb al-Qummī related to us, from Ḥafṣ ibn Ḥumayd, from Shimr, he said: Ibn ʿAbbās came to Kaʿb al-Aḥbār, and Ibn ʿAbbās said to him: Tell me about the word of Allah: (Inna kitāba l-fujjāri lafī sijjīn) — the verse. Kaʿb said: Indeed, the soul of the wicked person is raised up to heaven, but heaven refuses to accept it; then it is sent down to the earth, but the earth refuses to accept it; then it descends and passes beneath seven earths, until it reaches Sijjīn — and that is the boundary of Iblīs. Then a parchment is brought forth for it from Sijjīn, from beneath the boundary of Iblīs, upon which it is written and sealed, and it is placed beneath the boundary of Iblīs — with the awareness of perdition until the Day of Resurrection.