His saying, exalted and majestic is He:

﴿No! Indeed, the record of the wicked is in Sijjin﴾ ﴿And what can make you know what Sijjin is?﴾ ﴿It is a written record﴾ ﴿Woe, that Day, to the deniers﴾ ﴿Who deny the Day of Judgment﴾ ﴿And none deny it except every transgressor, sinful﴾ ﴿When our verses are recited to him, he says, 'Legends of the ancients.'﴾ ﴿No! Rather, what they used to earn has covered their hearts﴾ ﴿No! Indeed, they will be veiled from their Lord that Day﴾ ﴿Then indeed, they will be burning in Hell﴾ ﴿Then it will be said, 'This is what you used to deny.'﴾

This verse and what follows appear to be of the Meccan style, which is one of the opinions we mentioned before. And "No!" may be a response to the words of Quraysh, and it is possible that it is an opening similar to "Indeed not," and this is the saying of Abu Hatim and his preference. And "the wicked" refers to the disbelievers, and "their record" refers to that in which their affairs and actions are accounted for. It is possible for me that the meaning is: and their enumeration and the record of their being is in Sijjin, meaning: there they were recorded in eternity. Abu Amr, Al-A'raj, and Isa read "the wicked" with a slight elongation, and "the righteous" with an opening, as stated by Abu Hatim.

People have differed regarding what "Sijjin" is. The majority said: it is a form of the word for imprisonment, like "sakeer" and "sharib," meaning in a place of imprisonment and intoxication, so "Sijjin" comes as an exaggerated form. Mujahid said: and that is in a rock beneath the seventh earth. And Ka'b, narrating from the Torah, and Ubayy ibn Ka'b said: it is in a black tree there. It was said - from the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him - "in a well there," and it was said beneath the cheek of Iblis. And Ata al-Khurasani said: it is the lower earth, and this was said by Al-Bara from the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him. And Ikrimah said: "Sijjin" is a term for loss and humiliation, as you say: so-and-so has reached the lowest point, when he has become in the utmost of obscurity. And a group of linguists said: "Sijjin" has its noon as a substitute for its lam, it is from "sijil." And His saying, exalted and majestic is He: ﴿And what can make you know what Sijjin is?﴾ is a glorification of the matter of this Sijjin and astonishment at it. It is possible that it is an affirmation of a question, meaning: this is something you did not know before the revelation.

And His saying, exalted and majestic is He: "It is a written record" - for those who said the first saying regarding "Sijjin," then "a record" is elevated with him on the news of "Indeed," and the context which is "is in Sijjin" is nullified. And for those who said in "Sijjin" the second saying, then "a record" is elevated with him on the news of an implied beginning, and the estimation is: it is a written record, and this speech is interpreted for "Sijjin," what is it? And "written" means: inscribed with a record for them of evil, then He, exalted is He, affirmed it for the deniers of the Day of Judgment and woe to them.

And His saying, exalted is He: "On that Day" is an indication of what the meaning entails in His saying, exalted is He: "A written record". This implies that it raises for the Day of presentation and recompense. With this, the warning is completed and its meaning is directed. And "the transgressor" is one who exceeds the limits of things. And "sinner" is an exaggeration of "sinful". The majority read: "recited", with a ت, while Abu Haywah read: "is recited", with a ي from below. And "legends" is the plural of "legend", which are the tales that were written long ago. It is said that it is the plural of "asṭār", and "asṭār" is the plural of "satr". It is narrated that this verse was revealed in Mecca concerning al-Nadr ibn al-Harith ibn Kildah, who used to say: "Legends of the ancients". He had written in al-Hirah the tales of Rustam and Isfandiyar, and he would narrate them to the people of Mecca, saying: "I have better stories than Muhammad, for he only narrates to you the legends of the ancients."

And His saying, exalted is He: "Nay" is a rebuke and a response to their saying: "Legends of the ancients". Then, He, exalted is He, made obligatory that what they earned from disbelief, tyranny, and arrogance has indeed covered their hearts, meaning it has obscured them and prevailed over them. Yet, with that, they do not perceive guidance, nor does any news reach their hearts. It is said: "The wine has covered the mind of its drinker", and "deceit has covered the heart of the sick", and likewise death. From this is the saying of the poet:

Then when he saw it, the wine covered him, and you would not see him by avoiding.

And the verse is by Abu Zubayd. Al-Hasan and Qatadah said: "Covering" is sin upon sin until the heart dies. It is narrated from Abu Hurairah that the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, said: "When a man sins, a black spot appears on his heart. Then it continues like that until it covers it. That is the covering which Allah, exalted is He, said: 'Nay! Rather, what they earned has covered their hearts.'" Ibn Kathir, Abu Amr, and Ibn Amer read with the merging of the ل in the ر. Nafi also read with the merging and the leaning. Abu Hatim said: The reading with the opening and the merging is correct. And He, exalted is He, has attributed blame to them for what they earned - even if that was by His creation, glorified and exalted is He - because reward and punishment are related to the earning of the servant. And "Nay" in His saying, exalted is He: "Nay, indeed they" is suitable for the two meanings that have been previously mentioned. The pronoun in His saying, exalted is He: "Indeed they" and in "their Lord" refers to the disbelievers. So whoever said regarding the vision - and they are the people of the Sunnah - said that these do not see their Lord, for they are veiled from Him. Malik ibn Anas used this verse as evidence regarding the issue of vision from the perspective of the evidence of address. Otherwise, if He had veiled the vision from everyone, this specification would not have sufficed. And Ash-Shafi'i said: When He veiled a people with anger, it indicated that a people would see Him with pleasure. And whoever said that there is no vision - and this is the saying of the Mu'tazilah - said in this verse: Indeed they are veiled from the mercy of their Lord and His forgiveness. And "They will be burned in Hell" means direct exposure to the heat of the fire without a barrier.

And His saying, exalted is He: "Then it will be said" is in the meaning of reproaching them and scolding them. And His saying, exalted is He: "This is what you used to deny" is an object whose doer is not named; because it is a saying upon which the action "will be said" is built. And His saying, exalted is He: "This" is a reference to their punishment and their being in the Hellfire.