﴿He will gulp it down﴾ meaning he will force himself to swallow it bit by bit due to its bitterness and heat. He will choke on it and will face from it such severity that only Allah knows its extent. ﴿And he can hardly swallow it﴾ and he does not come close to being able to swallow it. For swallowing is the pulling of something in the throat while the soul accepts it. ﴿And death will come to him﴾ meaning the causes of it, which if one of them were to come to him in this world, he would die. ﴿From every direction﴾ and the direction is a prepared essence for settling, so it is a metaphor that he will encounter from the hardships what will cause the death of one who has met his death. ﴿And he is not dead﴾ meaning he is not established in death at all. Because we have decreed the continuation of his life as an increase in his punishment, and death is an occurrence that opposes perception in the animal structure. ﴿And behind him﴾ meaning this person, after that on the Day of Judgment, which is inevitable, and We did not create the heavens and the earth except for him. ﴿A severe punishment﴾ will take him on that day - along with what I have prepared for him in this world - while he is unaware of it. He has taken what is from behind, so it will be more severe, as is the case that will come suddenly, or the meaning may be that after this punishment in Hell there will be another punishment that your minds cannot bear to describe with anything more than severity.