His saying, exalted is He: "The Fire they are presented to in the morning and in the evening, and on the Day the Hour rises, enter the people of Pharaoh into the severest punishment." And when they dispute in the Fire, the weak will say to those who were arrogant, "Indeed, we were your followers, so can you avail us a portion of the Fire?" Those who were arrogant will say, "Indeed, we are all in it. Certainly, Allah has judged between the servants." And those in the Fire will say to the keepers of Hell, "Call upon your Lord to lighten for us a day of the punishment." They will say, "Did not your messengers come to you with clear signs?" They will say, "Yes." They will say, "Then invoke, and the invocation of the disbelievers is not but in error."

His saying, exalted is He: "The Fire they are presented to," [the Fire] is raised as a substitute for [evil]. A group said: [the Fire] is raised as a beginning, and its news is [they are presented to].

Another group said: This morning and evening is in this world, meaning: every morning and evening of the days of this world, the people of Pharaoh are presented to the Fire. It has been narrated in this regard from al-Hazil ibn Shurahbeel and al-Suddi that their souls are in the bodies of black birds that go to the Fire in the morning and return to it in the evening. Al-Awza'i said this when a man said to him: I saw white birds going from the sea and then returning in the evening black like them. Al-Awza'i said: Those are the ones in whose bellies are the souls of the people of Pharaoh; their feathers burn and become black when presented to the Fire. Muhammad ibn Ka'b al-Qurazi and others said: He meant that they are presented in the Hereafter to the Fire according to the measure of what is between the morning and evening; for there is no morning or evening in the Hereafter, and rather that is according to the measure of the days of this world.

And His saying, exalted is He: "And on the Day the Hour rises" can be understood as "Day" being connected to "evening," and the one acting on it is [they are presented to]. It can also be understood as a separate statement, and the acting on [Day] is [enter]. The estimation, according to both sayings, is: "It is said, enter." Nafi', Hamzah, al-Kisai, Hafs from Asim, al-A'raj, Abu Ja'far, Shaybah, al-Amash, Ibn Wathab, and Talhah read [enter] by cutting the alif. Ali ibn Abi Talib, may Allah be pleased with him, Ibn Kathir, Abu Amr, Ibn Amer, Abu Bakr from Asim, al-Hasan, and Qatadah read [enter] by connecting the alif as a command to the people of Pharaoh, and [the people of] - according to this reading - is a vocative added, and [the severest] is in the accusative as an adverbial.

The pronoun in His saying, [they dispute] refers to all the disbelievers of the nations. This is the beginning of a story that does not specifically pertain to the people of Pharaoh. The acting on [when] is an implied verb whose estimation is: and mention. Al-Tabari said: And [when] is an addition to His saying, exalted is He: "When the hearts are at the throats."

And this is far off. And 'the argument' is the dialogue with proof and contention. And 'the weak' refers to those in status and rank in this world. And ﴿those who were arrogant﴾ are the nobles of the disbelievers and their leaders. And He did not describe them with arrogance except in the sense that they were arrogant, not that they themselves are great. If they were indeed great in themselves, their description would be 'the great ones' or something similar that would necessitate the attribute for them. And 'the followers' is said to be a plural, the singular of which is 'follower' like 'absent' and 'absence.' It is also said to be a singular that describes the plural, like 'justice' and 'falsehood' and others. And their saying: ﴿They are of no benefit to us﴾ means they carry all of our burdens and hardships. So the arrogant informed them that the matter has been concluded with the entirety of them being in it, and that the decree of Allah, glorified and exalted is He, has continued with that.

And His saying: ﴿Everyone in it﴾ is a beginning and a news, and the sentence is the news of (Indeed). Ibn al-Samif'ah read: 'Indeed, we are all in it' with the accusative for emphasis. Then all those in the fire said to its guardians and keepers: 'Call upon your Lord, perhaps He will lighten for us a measure of a day from the punishment of this world.' So the guardians responded to them - in a manner of reproach and reprimand - ﴿Did not your messengers come to you?﴾ The verse, so the disbelievers acknowledged at that point and said: 'Yes,' meaning that indeed was the case. So the guardians said to them at that point: 'Then call you, and in this is a meaning of mockery towards them, meaning: 'Call, O disbelievers, whose supplication has no meaning.' And a group said: ﴿And the supplication of the disbelievers is only in error﴾ is from the words of the guardians. And a group said: it is from the words of Allah, glorified and exalted is He, informing Muhammad, blessings and peace be upon him. And these actions came in the past tense, ﴿Those who were arrogant said﴾ - ﴿And those in the fire said﴾ - because it describes a state that is certain to occur, and thus it is appropriate in it.