His saying - glorified and exalted is He -: "He said, 'Enter into nations that have passed before you from among the jinn and mankind into the Fire. Whenever a nation enters, it curses its sister until, when they all have gathered in it, the last of them says to the first of them, 'Our Lord, these have led us astray, so give them a double punishment from the Fire.' He said, 'For each is a double, but you do not know.'" And the first of them said to the last of them, 'So what was it that you had over us of favor? So taste the punishment for what you used to earn.'" This is a narration of what Allah, the Exalted, says to them on the Day of Resurrection; through the angels of punishment; and He expressed "saying" with "He said"; to affirm the occurrence of that; and the truth of the story; and this is abundant. And His saying, the Exalted, "in nations"; is related to "enter"; and it is possible that it relates to something omitted; the estimation of which is: "existing - or: 'established' - in nations..."; so it would be in the position of the state of the pronoun in "enter"; and it is said: "in"; meaning "with"; and it is said: it is in its literal sense; and that is more correct; and His saying: "that have passed"; is an attribute of "nations"; and His saying: "into the Fire"; it is correct for it to relate to "enter"; and it is correct for it to relate to "nations"; meaning: in established nations; or settled; and it is correct for it to relate to the mention that is in "have passed"; and the meaning of "that have passed"; on this relation; is: "that have preceded; and time has passed over them; and they have been known in what has extended from the ages"; and it may be used even if the time has not been long; since its origin is in those who have died from among the people; meaning: "they have gone to emptiness from the earth"; and on the first two interpretations of His saying: "into the Fire"; indeed "have passed"; is a narration about the state of the world; meaning: "enter into the Fire; in the company of the previous nations for you in the world; the disbelievers"; and He mentioned the jinn first; because they are more entrenched in disbelief; and Iblis is the origin of misguidance; and this verse is a text that the disbelievers among the jinn are in the Fire; and what is necessitated by reasoning is that their believers are in Paradise; because they are rational; accountable; sent to them; they believed; and they affirmed; and Al-Bukhari - may Allah have mercy on him - has titled: "A chapter on the mention of the jinn and their reward and punishment"; and Abdul Jalil mentioned that the believers among the jinn will be dust; like the animals; and he mentioned in that a hadith that is unknown; and I do not see it to be authentic; and Allah, the Exalted, knows best.

And the brotherhood in this verse is the brotherhood of the religion and the Shari'ah. Al-Suddi said: The last of them will curse the first of them. "They will catch up"; its meaning is: they will follow one another. Its form is "tafa'ala"; its root is "tadaraka"; it was assimilated; thus the alif of connection was brought in. Abu 'Amr read "id-daraku" by cutting the alif of connection. Abu al-Fath said: This is problematic; and it is not permissible to cut it spontaneously; for that only occurs as an exception in the necessity of poetry. Mujahid read by cutting the alif and making the dal silent "idrakū"; with the ra opened; and by omitting the alif after the dal; meaning: "some of them caught up with one another". Humayd read: "udrikū"; with the hamzah pronounced and the ra broken; meaning: "they were admitted into its attainment". Al-Makki said regarding Mujahid's reading: It is "iddaraku"; with the dal emphasized and opened; and the ra opened. He said: Its root is "idtaraku"; and its form is "ift'ala". Ibn Mas'ud and Al-A'mash read: "tadaraku"; and it was narrated from Abu 'Amr. The majority read: "Until when they catch up"; and it was read by omitting the alif of "when"; due to the meeting of the two silent letters.

And His saying, exalted is He: "The last of them said to the first of them"; its meaning is: "The last community, which found established misguidances and false traditions used by the first community that legislated that; and fabricated against Allah, exalted is He; and followed the path of misguidance from the beginning: Our Lord, these have followed the paths of misguidance and caused our misguidance; so give them a double punishment - that is, a second one; in addition to our punishment - as they are disbelievers; and causing our disbelief". And it says: "I have doubled such and such"; if you make it like the first. And the lam in His saying: "to the first of them"; is as if it is a lam of cause; for the saying is only for the Lord, exalted is He; then He said - mighty and majestic - informing them: "For each is a double"; meaning: "The punishment is intensified upon the first and the last"; "but you do not know"; meaning: the amounts; and the forms of the doubling; and this is a refutation of the words of these; for they have no honor, so their relief does not appear.

As for the meaning they called for; the apparent hadith of the Prophet - blessings and peace be upon him - is that it is realized; and that whoever initiates disbelief or disobedience; upon him is a share from every person who acts by that after him. And among them is the hadith of Anas ibn Malik that the Messenger of Allah - blessings and peace be upon him - said: "There is no caller who calls to misguidance except that upon him is its burden and the burden of whoever follows him; that does not diminish anything from their burdens..." The hadith was mentioned by Al-Layth ibn Sa'd; from the end of the fourth part of his hadith; and it was mentioned by Malik in Al-Muwatta, not as a chain; connected. And among his words - upon him be blessings and peace - is: "No soul is killed unjustly except that upon the son of Adam the first is a share from it". However, these have specified in their calling the doubling; and the share may be less or more; and from Ibn Mas'ud that the doubling here refers to the snakes and the serpents.

And all seven [readers] recited; except for 'Asim; in the narration of Abu Bakr - may Allah be pleased with him -: "But you do not know"; with a 'taa'; and it is possible that this is an address to this last nation; connected to His saying - glorified and exalted is He - to them: "For each [there is] a double [punishment]"; and it is possible that it is an address to Muhammad - blessings and peace be upon him - and his nation; and 'Asim alone recited; in the narration of Abu Bakr - may Allah be pleased with him -: "But they do not know"; and Hafs narrated from 'Asim (p-562) similarly to the reading of the group; and this is an address to the nation of Muhammad - blessings and peace be upon him -; and a report about the last nation that requested that the punishment be intensified upon its first ones; and it is possible that it is a report about the two groups; based on the wording of "each"; meaning: "No one among them knows the extent of what has been prepared for them of the punishment of Allah, the Exalted."

And His saying - the Mighty and Majestic -: ﴿And the first of them said to the last of them﴾; the meaning is: "And the first nation, the innovators; said to the last nation, the followers: You have no virtue over us; and you did not cease when the warnings came to you; and the messengers; rather you remained in your disbelief; and you left off reflection; and our condition and your condition are equal; so taste the punishment for your transgression"; this is the saying of Al-Suddi and Abu Mijlaz and others; so His saying "So taste" - on this - is from the words of the earlier nation to the later nation; and it is said: His saying: ﴿ "So taste";﴾ is from the words of Allah - the Mighty and Majestic - to all of them; and Mujahid said: And the meaning of His saying - glorified and exalted is He -: ﴿ "from a favor";﴾ is meaning from the alleviation.

The judge Abu Muhammad - may Allah have mercy on him - said: Its meaning is that when Allah - the Mighty and Majestic - said: ﴿ "For each [there is] a double [punishment]"; the first ones said to the last ones: You have not reached a hope that your punishment would be lighter than our punishment; nor have you been favored with relief; and the text about it.