'In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful' His saying, exalted and glorious is He: "As for those who are wretched, they will be in the Fire, with therein a sound of weeping and gasping. They will remain therein as long as the heavens and the earth endure, except for what your Lord wills. Indeed, your Lord is All-Effective for what He intends." "And as for those who are happy, they will be in Paradise, remaining therein as long as the heavens and the earth endure, except for what your Lord wills, a gift that will never be cut off." His saying, exalted and glorious is He: "Those who are wretched" - according to some interpretations regarding the exception at the end of the verse - refers to everyone who is punished, whether a disbeliever or a sinner. According to some interpretations, it refers to everyone who will be made eternal, and that will only be in the case of disbelievers specifically. The sound of weeping is a strong sound specific to the sorrowful or in pain or tortured, and gasping is likewise, as the one who is crying does when he screams during his crying. Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him, said: the sound of weeping is a sharp sound, and gasping is a heavy sound. Abu Al-Aliya said: the sound of weeping comes from the chest, and gasping comes from the throat. It was said the opposite. Qatadah said: the sound of weeping is the first sound of the donkey, and gasping is its last. So the cries of the people of the Fire are likewise. It was said: the sound of weeping is derived from the intensity, and gasping is from their saying: a towering mountain, meaning high. So they are, in this meaning, one or similar. The apparent meaning is what Abu Al-Aliya said, for the sound of weeping is that which causes the chest and abdomen to expand, and gasping is the final occurrence of the sound that is expelled with the breath sometimes. The one who is dying may gasp, and the one who has fainted may gasp. As for His saying: "as long as the heavens and the earth endure," it was said: its meaning is that Allah, blessed and exalted is He, will change the heavens and the earth on the Day of Resurrection, making the earth a place for Hell and the sky a place for Paradise, and that will be eternal. The verse thus associates the eternity of these with the permanence of that. It is narrated from Ibn Abbas that he said: Indeed, Allah created the heavens and the earth from the light of the Throne, then He will return them there in the Hereafter, so they will then have everlasting existence. It was said: the meaning of His saying: "as long as the heavens and the earth endure" is an expression of eternity, as the Arabs are accustomed to. That is, among the eloquent speech of theirs, when they want to inform about the eternity of something, they say: 'I will not do such and such as long as the dove coos, and as long as the heavens and the earth endure,' and similar to this, which they mean by it is a long duration without end. So Allah, exalted and glorious is He, made them understand the eternity of the disbelievers by that, even though He has informed of the demise of the heavens and the earth.

As for His saying: ﴿Except what your Lord wills﴾, it has been said regarding it: This is in the manner of exception that the Shari'ah has encouraged to be used in every speech. It is as in His saying, the Most High: ﴿You will surely enter the Sacred Mosque, if Allah wills, in safety﴾ [Al-Fath: 27]. This is an exception in what is obligatory, and this exception is in the ruling of a condition, as if He said: "If Allah wills." There is no need for it to be described as connected or disconnected. This is supported by His saying, the Most High: ﴿A gift that will not be cut off﴾. It has also been said that it is an exception from the duration of time, based on what has been narrated that Hell will be destroyed, and its inhabitants will be annihilated, and its doors will be closed. They, based on this, will remain until their matter reaches this.

Qadi Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said: This is a conflicting statement, and what has been narrated and transmitted from Ibn Mas'ud and others is that it is the uppermost level that is specific to the sinners among the believers, and it is what is called Hell. Everything has been named by it as a figure of speech.

It has been said that what is excepted is what Allah, the Most High, will soften for the sinners among the believers in bringing them out after a period from the Fire. Thus, His saying, the Most High: ﴿Except what your Lord wills﴾ means: for a certain people. This is the saying of Qatadah, Al-Dahhak, Abu Sinan, and others. Based on this, His saying: ﴿As for those who are wretched﴾ is general for the disbelievers and the sinners as we have mentioned before, and the exception is from ﴿They will remain﴾. It has been said: "Except" means "and," so the meaning of the verse is: "And what Allah wills is in addition to that." This is similar to the poet's saying:

And every brother who is separated from his brother ∗∗∗ By the life of your father, except for the two far away.

Qadi Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said: This verse is valid to be cited as evidence for our belief in the annihilation of the two far away and others from the world. However, if its speaker is from the materialists of the Arabs, there is no proof in it, as he sees that as eternal, so he applied "except" in its usual sense.

It has been said: "Except" in this verse means other than, and the exception is disconnected, as you say: "I have with you a thousand dirhams, except for the thousand that I lent you," meaning: other than that. So it is as if He said: They will remain in it as long as the heavens and the earth remain, except for what Allah wills in addition to that. This interpretation is supported by His later saying: ﴿A gift that will not be cut off﴾. This is the saying of Al-Farra, for he interprets the disconnected exception as "other than," and Sibawayh interprets it as "but." It has been said: "Except what He has prepared for them of types of punishment that are unknown, like the coldness and the like." It has been said: An exception from the duration of the heavens and the earth, the duration that they missed in the worldly life. It has been said: In the Barzakh between this world and the Hereafter. It has been said: In the distances that are between them in entering the Fire, as their entering is indeed in groups after groups. It has been said: The exception is from His saying: ﴿So in the Fire﴾, as if He said: "Except what your Lord wills of delay from that." This is a saying narrated by Abu Nadrah from Jabir or from Abu Sa'id Al-Khudri. Then He informed, indicating the power of Allah, the Most High, by His saying: ﴿Indeed, your Lord is All-Effective for what He wills﴾.

Ibn Kathir, Nafi, Abu Amr, Ibn Amer, and Asim - in the narration of Abu Bakr - read "sa'idu" with a فتح (fatha) on the letter 's', which is a verb that does not take an object. Hamzah, Al-Kisai, and Asim in the narration of Hafs read "su'idu" with a ضم (dhamma) on the letter 's', which is irregular and there is no evidence for their saying "mas'ud", because it is a مفعول (mafuul) from 'as'ada' by omitting the addition, just as it is said: 'mahbub' from 'ahabba', and 'majnun' from 'ajana' Allah. It has been said regarding 'mas'ud' that its origin is an adjective for the place, it is said: 'a place where one is made happy', then it was transferred to being a name. It has been mentioned that Al-Farra' reported that Hudhayl says: "sa'adahu Allah", meaning: "as'adahu", and Ibn Mas'ud, Talhah ibn Musarif, Ibn Wathab, and Al-Amash read it with a ضم (dhamma) on the letter 's'.

The statements regarding the exception that precedes this are arranged here except for the interpretation of those who said: "It is the exception of the duration in which Hell is destroyed", for it does not follow similarly in this verse. It is also added here that the exception may be in the duration that the sinners remain in the fire, and the interpretation of those who said in that verse: "The exception is from His saying, the Exalted: 'So in the fire'" does not follow either.

And His saying: "'ata'an ghayra majdhudh" is in the accusative as a مصدر (masdar), and 'majdhudh' means 'cut off', and 'jadh' means 'cut', and likewise 'jadd', and likewise 'hazz'.