And when the advancement and delay are by actions, and since most of the actions of a human being are evil due to what he is created with of deficiency, he said, clarifying what is advanced and what is delayed: "Every soul" meaning male or female in general, "by what it has earned" meaning specifically, not by what others have earned. "Is a hostage" meaning it is held accountable by the action, a noun meaning the hostage as in the saying of the poet:

"After that which we are accustomed to, we are accustomed to the stars, A hostage in the grave of dust and stones."

There is no feminine form for "hostage" which is a description, because "fa'il" meaning "maf'ul" is equal in its masculine and feminine forms. And if the connectors that they express with rhyme are observed in the Quran in a way, it would have been said: "hostage" - for the sake of an oath. However, there is no consideration for anything other than the meaning, and it is permissible that the "h" is for emphasis meaning it is firmly bound with a strong binding, greatly imprisoned, so it is in the fire. Thus, the origin in the documented earning is established.