And the Day He gathers them is attached to something omitted, meaning, remember the Day We gather them, or on the Day We gather them, We said, O assembly of the jinn, or on the Day We gather them and We said, O assembly of the jinn, it was something that cannot be described for its horror. The pronoun refers to those who will be gathered from the two creations and others. The jinn are the devils. You have certainly increased from among the humans, leading many of them astray, or you made them your followers, so a great multitude of them was gathered with you. As you say: the prince has increased in soldiers, and so-and-so has increased in followers. And their allies among the humans, those who obeyed them and listened to their whispers, said, Our Lord, some of us have enjoyed [the company of] others, meaning the humans benefited from the devils as they guided them to desires and the means to attain them. And the jinn benefited from the humans as they obeyed them and assisted them in their desires and lusts in their misguidance. It is said that the enjoyment of the humans by the jinn is what is mentioned in the saying, And indeed, there were men among the humans who sought refuge with men from the jinn. And when a man would descend into a valley and feared, he would say: I seek refuge with the Lord of this valley, meaning the chief of the jinn. And the enjoyment of the jinn by the humans is that the humans acknowledged that they could repel harm from them and provide them refuge. And we have reached our appointed time which You appointed for us, meaning the Day of Resurrection. This statement is an acknowledgment of what they did in obeying the devils, following desires, denying the resurrection, and surrendering to their Lord, lamenting their condition. They will abide therein except for what Allah wills, meaning they will abide in the punishment of the Fire for eternity. [Mahamud said: 'The meaning of this exception is that they will abide in the punishment of the Fire for eternity...'] Ahmad said: The permanence of the disbelievers in punishment is established with certainty. Therefore, scholars have focused on discussing the exception in this verse and its counterpart in Surah Hud. Some of them have gone to the extent that it includes the sinful monotheists and the disbelievers, and the exception refers to the sinful ones because they will not abide eternally. This is the interpretation of the people of Sunnah. Al-Zamakhshari erred in denying it in the verse of Hud and reached what we seek refuge with Allah from. He criticized Abdullah ibn Amr ibn al-As, may Allah be pleased with him, the narrator of the hadith that supports this interpretation. We seek refuge with Allah from criticizing someone like Abdullah, who is among the distinguished companions, may Allah be pleased with them, their scholars, and their ascetics. Some have said that this exception is limited by the will to lift the punishment, meaning they will abide except if Allah wills otherwise. Its benefit is to show the ability and declare that their permanence is only because Allah has willed it. It was rationally possible in His will that He would not punish them, and if He punished them, He would not make them abide eternally. This is not an obligation upon Him but rather a consequence of His will and desire, exalted is He. In this regard, there is a refutation against the Mu'tazila who claim that the eternal punishment of the disbelievers is obligatory upon Allah due to wisdom, and that it is not permissible in reason for Him to will otherwise. Al-Zajjaj has a subtle view that only becomes clear with elaboration, saying: The intended meaning—Allah knows best—is except for what He wills of increased punishment. He did not clarify the reason for the validity of the exception, and the exception in this interpretation does not differ from the exception made in the ruling. We clarify it by saying: The punishment—may we seek refuge with Allah—from it is of varying degrees. It is as if the intended meaning is that they are eternally in the essence of punishment, except for what your Lord wills of an increase that reaches the limit and ends at the utmost end, until it almost reaches the limit and is distinct from the types of punishment in severity, which is not of the essence of punishment and is outside of it. When something reaches the limit in their view, they express it by the opposite, as previously mentioned in expressing the abundance of action with 'rab' and 'qad', which are terms used to indicate the harm of abundance over scarcity. This is a matter that is customary in the Arabic language. Abu al-Tayyib has alluded to it, saying: I have striven until Hatim almost became stingy... to the utmost limit and from joy he almost...

So these people, when they reach the limit of punishment and the end of hardship, have reached a point that almost exceeds the name of absolute punishment. Thus, it becomes permissible to express their treatment in a manner that is different, which is a good aspect that is hardly understood from the words of al-Zajjaj except after this elaboration. In the interpretation of Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him, there is support for this, and Allah is the Grantor of success. Except for what Allah wills, except for the times when they are transferred from the punishment of the Fire to the punishment of the cold, it has been narrated that they enter a valley in which there is such cold that it separates some of their limbs from one another. They cry out and request to be returned to the Hellfire. Or it could be from the saying of the wronged one, which means the oppressed, who has seized his rights and continues to burn with his fangs, and he has been asked to relieve his choking. Allah has destroyed me if I relieve you, except if you will. And he knows that he does not will except to take revenge on him with the utmost severity and harshness. So his saying, 'except if you will,' is from the strongest threats, with mockery of the promise for his exit in the form of an exception that contains a temptation. Indeed, your Lord is Wise; He does not do anything except by virtue of wisdom. He is All-Knowing that the disbelievers deserve eternal punishment.