'In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful' His saying, exalted and glorified is He: "So is he who protects himself with his face from the evil of the punishment on the Day of Resurrection, and it will be said to the wrongdoers, 'Taste what you used to earn.'" "Those before them denied, so the punishment came to them from where they did not perceive." "So Allah made them taste disgrace in this worldly life, and the punishment of the Hereafter is greater if they only knew." "And certainly, We have set forth for mankind in this Qur'an every kind of example that perhaps they may remember." "A Qur'an in Arabic, without any crookedness, that perhaps they may be conscious of Him." This is a statement meaning astonishment, and the meaning is: So is he who protects himself with his face from the evil of the punishment like those who are in Paradise? The interpreters have differed regarding His saying, exalted and glorified is He: "protects himself with his face." Mujahid said: He will kneel on his face in the Fire. A group said: This is because it has been narrated that the disbeliever will be thrown into the Fire bound, with his hands tied to his legs along with his neck, and he will be thrown on his face, so he has nothing to protect himself with except his face. Another group said: The meaning is a description of the abundance of what befalls them from the punishment, and that he protects himself from it with all his limbs and senses. When the punishment reaches this extent, it becomes clear that there is no escaping after that. This meaning, in my view, is the most eloquent. In this context, the saying of the poet applies: "He meets swords with his face and his neck, and he raises his head as if it were a helmet." Because he intended the greatness of his boldness towards it, so he meets it with every shield, and with everything from him, even with his face and neck. And His saying, exalted and glorified is He: "Taste what you used to earn" means: Experience it. Here, there is something omitted, the meaning of which is: the recompense of what you used to earn. Then He likened Quraysh to the previous nations, then He informed, exalted is He, about what those nations experienced in this world as cursed tales, and others greater than this, along with what their souls experienced of pain, humiliation, and distress. Then He informed that what has been prepared for them from the punishment of the Hereafter is greater than all of this which was in the world. And His saying: "A Qur'an," a group said: It is in the accusative as a source. Another group said: It is in the accusative as a state, and "Arabic" is the state. Another group said: It is in the accusative as a preparation for the state, and the state is His saying: "Arabic." And He negated any crookedness from it because there is no contradiction in it, nor any inconsistency, nor any flaw in any way. The expressions of the interpreters have differed, so Uthman ibn Affan, may Allah be pleased with him, said: The meaning is: not contradictory. Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with them both, said: Not differing. Mujahid said: Not ambiguous. Al-Suddi said: Not created. And Bakr al-Muzani said: Not with a grammatical error. And "crookedness" with a kasra (broken vowel) on the 'ayn in matters, and with a fatha (open vowel) on it in persons.