And when he mentioned their fate to it, he mentioned their staying in it. He said, based on the implication of 'the tyrants': ﴿They will remain in it﴾. And since the plural of the few is borrowed for the many, the term 'hqb' is applied to time without limit, and it is also applied to a limited time. It has been said to refer to eighty years and to seventy thousand years. The context from the beginning of the surah with the news and its description with the expression of the great news, and what follows that, understands that the intended meaning is permanence if what is meant is that which has no limit, and that the intended meaning, if what is meant is the limited, is the plural of the many. Most of what has been interpreted by 'hqb' is that it is for exaggeration, not limitation. The plural of the few here is not problematic. So whoever takes it to mean less than that, then the warning suffices him; the expression does not harm him. And whoever dares to it and belittles it is a trial for him, just as the limitation of the number of the guardians of the Fire to nineteen did not harm anyone except himself. Therefore, he expressed the duration of their stay by saying: ﴿Ahqaban﴾, meaning great, successive eras with no end to them. Although the expression with it - even if it is taken to mean at least and made limited - does not contradict what he stated about eternity, because he affirmed something and did not deny what is above it. And from al-Hasan, it has been reported that he said: The term 'hqb' is rarely mentioned except where the succession of times and their continuity is intended without end.