and hoarded it” [al-Maʿarij 70:17–18].
He also said what the people of Saqar say when they are asked, “What brought you into Saqar? They will say, ‘We were not among those who prayed, we did not feed the poor, we indulged in idle talk with those who did so, and we denied the Day of Recompense’” [al-Muddaththir 74:42–46]. He said of the people of al-Jaḥīm that “they deny the Day of Recompense, and none denies it but every transgressor steeped in sin” [al-Mutaffifin 83:11–12]. So He described them as sinful and transgressive.
Then He said of them, “Then indeed they shall burn in al-Jaḥīm, and it will be said, ‘This is what you used to deny’” [al-Mutaffifin 83:16–17]. So it is with al-Ḥuṭamah and al-Saʿīr and the rest of what the Quran or the Sunnah relates. We have now mentioned the principal categories and the classes. As for the correspondences between deeds and these mansions, they are exceedingly numerous and would take long to explain. Were we to undertake this, it would take us far afield, for the field is vast.
The deeds are mentioned and the punishment for them is mentioned. Whenever you come upon any of this, while you stand upon a light and a clear proof from your Lord, God will disclose it to you in His generosity. What we undertook in this chapter, and what we named it for, was to mention the ranks. We have mentioned and explained them.
We have pointed to passages in this book of mine where the reader's reflection may range, drawing on the verses cited in this chapter. At its beginning God gave Iblis the command we mentioned. Does anything accrue to him from complying with that divine command, insofar as he complies, or does nothing accrue? Through indications such as these,
