A hostage is not the feminine form of hostage. Mahmoud said: "And it is not the feminine form of hostage..." Ahmad said: "Because it is a form that means the object, and its masculine and feminine forms are the same, like killed and new." In the saying, 'Every person is a hostage by what he earns,' it is due to the feminine form of the soul. If the description were intended, it would have been said: hostage, because the form 'fa'ila' meaning the object is the same for both masculine and feminine. Rather, it is a noun meaning the pledge, like 'shatima' meaning 'the act of cursing.' It is as if it were said: Every soul is a pledge by what it has earned. From this is the verse of al-Hamasah:

"Is it far from the one who is at the mountain's edge... A hostage in the grave of dust and stones."

Is it far from the one who is at the mountain's edge... A hostage in the grave of dust and stones.

Should I mention the survival of the one who harmed me... And my survival while I strive without retreat?"

This is from Mas'ud ibn Ziyadah al-Harithy. It is said to be from Abdul Rahman ibn Zayd. His father Ziyadah was killed, and he was offered seven blood money payments for it, but he refused except for revenge.

The question is one of denial. The mountain - with the opening - is the mountain and the elevated place. It is said to be what faces you from the mountain. And 'kuykab' is a specific mountain. In this elaboration from the details after the generalization, there is an indication of the greatness of the place and the situation. That is, is it far from the killing of my father, who is buried in that place while he is confined in a grave? It is said that 'hostage' is in the genitive case, a substitute for 'the one who,' thus it is a noun included among the invariables meaning the pledge. It is said: 'ramasta' means to bury something in the dust, thus the source is released and the place is intended, which is the grave. 'Jandal' means stones. The interrogative particle is repeated in the saying 'Should I mention' for emphasis on the first. Because it is also included in this action in estimation. It is possible that it is included in something estimated, meaning: Is it far from my father to be pleased with the blood money? 'A'dhkar' has been narrated with emphasis and in the passive voice, thus the first interrogative is included in it, and there is no evidence in it at that time. 'Al-Baqiya' means the preservation of something, meaning: I do not mention among the people that I preserved the killer of my father, while my preservation of him is that I am striving and determined to kill him without swearing to do so, because I do not need to swear in executing my affairs. Or I am not negligent in my efforts, because 'al-aitla' can mean swearing and also meaning negligence. It is as if it is said: A pledge of the grave. The meaning is: Every soul is a pledge by its earning with Allah, not released except for the companions of the right, for they have freed their necks by what they have earned, just as the pledger frees his pledge by fulfilling the right. And it is reported from Ali, may Allah be pleased with him, that he interpreted the companions of the right as children, for they have no deeds by which they are pledged. And from Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him: They are the angels in gardens, meaning they are in gardens whose description cannot be comprehended. They ask about the criminals, some of them asking each other about them. Mahmoud said: "They ask each other about them..." Ahmad said: "The question is merely a means to convey the meaning that the sinful Muslims who abandon prayer, for example, will enter the fire, remaining with the disbelievers, thus making each of the four attributes necessitate what the other necessitates regarding permanence. The correct understanding of the verse is that it is specific to the disbelievers.

The meaning of their saying, 'We were not among those who prayed,' is that we were not among the people of prayer, and so on until the end of it. This is because they deny the Day of Judgment, and the denier cannot have obedience in these acts of obedience. Even if he performs them, they will not benefit him and are as if they do not exist. Rather, they regret the abandonment of an act that is beneficial for them. Or they ask others about them, like your saying: 'I called him and we called him.' If you say: How does his saying match 'What has caused you to enter?' which is a question for the criminals: his saying, 'They ask about the criminals,' is a question about them? It would only match if it were said: 'They ask the criminals, what has caused you to enter?' I say: 'What has caused you to enter?' is not a clarification of the inquiry about them, but rather it is a narration of the words of those questioned about them. This is because those questioned will convey to the questioners what transpired between them and the criminals. They will say: 'We said to them, what has caused you to enter into Saqar?' They said, 'We were not among those who prayed.' However, the speech is presented in a manner of omission and brevity, as is the way of the revelation in the strangeness of its composition. 'Engaging' means beginning in falsehood and what is not appropriate. If you say: Why do they ask them while they know that? I say: As a rebuke to them and to bring them to regret, and for Allah to narrate that in His Book as a reminder for the listeners. Some of them supported the interpretation of the companions of the right as being children: that they only asked them because they are young and do not know the reason for entering the Fire. If you say: Do they mean that each one of them entered the Fire by the combination of these four, or did some of them enter it by this and some by that? I say: Both possibilities are valid. If you say: Why is the denial, which is the greatest of them, mentioned last? I say: They meant that after all of that, they were still deniers of the Day of Judgment, emphasizing the denial. Like His saying, 'Then he was among those who believed,' and certainty is death and its precedents. That is, if all the intercessors, from the angels and the prophets and others, were to intercede for them, their intercession would not benefit them, because intercession is for whom Allah has accepted, and they are those upon whom He is angry. And it contains evidence that intercession will benefit on that Day, because it increases the ranks of the accepted.