Exegesis of Al-Humaza (Q. 104)

In the Name of Allah the Most Merciful the Most Gracious...
He, upon him be peace, was asked about the interpretation of: {Woe unto every defamer and slanderer! He is the one who collects his money and counts it. He considers that his money will make him to live forever! Certainly not! He will be flung into Huŧama! What has reached thee concerning Huŧama? The Fire of Allah, bursting forth with flames! It is that which overtakes the hearts. Indeed, upon them it will be shut—in pillars extended}
The interpretation of {Woe} is: what‟s known from lamentation and pain.
It‟s also that which is associated with a magnanimous and tremendous shame.
The {defamer} is: one who backbites others and uses satirical names.
The {defamer and slanderer}: one who robs one of one‟s rights and defames.
The {defamer} diminishes by slander. The {slanderer} degrades by scandals.
The {one who collects his money} struggles to amass the wealth he handles.
When he {counts it}, he keeps watch over it and calculates it piece by piece
With the wealth in his hands and fears his conditions increase and decrease.
{He considers}: He understands, He feels, He deems, and He thinks,
That the money that he amasses and counts causes his state to rise and sink.
It won‟t last forever and will eventually diminish. It will not defend him;
Nor will it protect him from what he fears or shield him from fluctuations within.
How, when it can‟t defend one from the great afflictions of death?!
One can‟t diminish its toil and earnings or by it, decrease death any less.
Similarly, by that, Allah intends to indicate death‟s harm and calamity;
For one cannot escape it by means of collecting and counting one‟s prosperity.
This world is quickly fleeting and similarly, hastened is his resting place.
On Judgment Day, he is {flung into Huŧama}: thrown in there on his face.
{Huŧama}: the consumer of its people and stones by burning and conflagration.
It is a Fire made by Allah, as He said regarding the settling of its population:
{Be conscious of a Fire whose fuel is humans and stones made ready for the disbelievers} (Q. 2:24)
Allah created the Fire of the Hereafter to be a cleaver on that Day;
Without the use of iron, stones, trees, or anything before it that way.
That Fire is not like this fire, which Allah made from trees and clay.
As Allah, the Glorified, says: {Dost thou not see the fire thou ignite? Are thou the producers of its trees or are We its Producers?!} (Q. 56:71-72).
If the Fire of the Hereafter was like the fire of this present reality,
It would be fuelled by trees like the fuel used in this world‟s locality.
However, Allah makes its fuel source stones and human beings.
The human beings and stones are the firewood of that flame, it seems:
{Verily thou and what thou worship instead of Allah, will be the firewood of Hell. To it, thou will be coming} (Q. 21:98).
The people of Hell will be there for eternity forever and remain therein.
They will not be removed from there, nor will the people reach their end.
Just as firewood is turned to ashes when extinguished and remains lifeless,
Similarly, the skins of the people of Fire—of the Hereafter—will be like this.
If it something that dies down and abates; it eventually reaches disintegration.
But, Allah will renew it after its destruction and return it anew from creation;
So Allah will make the people of Hellfire remain eternally by regeneration.
As Allah, the Glorified, says: {Every time their skins are seared through, We will replace it with another skin
so they can taste the punishment. Allah is Mighty, All-Wise} (Q. 4:56).
Because its fuel is people and stones, the Hereafter‟s Fire will remain forever.
The stones and Hell‟s denizen‟s skins will be consumed and brought back together.
It‟s decreed by One Mighty and Wise that Hell‟s punishment will not end, ever.
{...that which overtakes the hearts}: what misery and worry reaches the inner.
{...upon them it will be shut} means: a closing or fastening a lid over Gehenna.
Allah states it in connection to the doors of Hell, which are closed over them.
The closing of its doors, as Allah said, indicates an emphasis on its punishment.
It is the greatest tragedy as well as pain and burning, as the Glorified mentioned:
{Every time they desire to be removed from there, they will be returned to it. It will be said to them: "Taste the Fire of Hell that you used to belie!"} (Q. 32:20).
{...in pillars extended}
After the Glorified mentioned the closing Hell‟s doors and shutting the top,
Pillars lie extended upon its doors as barriers which render the doors locked.
The term "closed" doesn‟t necessary imply a complete closure in itself
Because a door that is simply closed could be opened somewhere else.
For example, an outer door may be shut or only a middle door closed.
But all of its doors will be closed as evidenced by the barriers used on those.
Its closing will be thorough, complete; from the first of it to its last;
Especially when it is extended and established by locks that hold fast.
All doors of Hell will be shut. As Allah mentioned about those with iron maces,
The people will be struck with these iron maces, who seek to escape from their places:
{They will have maces of iron} (Q. 22:21).
Glorified be the One who gathers constricted darkness for sinners and atheists in Hell,
It will be said to them on Judgment Day: {"Enter Hell‟s doors—forever to dwell!"} (Q. 39:72).

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