The traditional rendering of verse 22:15 is so bad that it turns into an absurdity, into a joke. The amazing thing is that anyone who studies the Quran should easily understand its meaning, since the expressions are used in other verses and contexts. Instead of first looking at the usage of words and expression in other parts of the Quran, the traditional translators look for inspiration form the early commentators who mostly relied heavily on hadith hearsay. Regardless of the source, with the exception of a few, such as Muhammad Asad, Muhammad Ali, and Rashad Khalifa, many translations have duplicated the bizarre and absurd traditional rendering. For a detailed discussion of this verse, see the Sample Comparisons section in the Introduction. See 6:41.

We wished to reflect both equally plausible meanings. See 16:93; 57:22.

It is interesting that the Quran usually mentions hell and paradise after each other. While the appreciative see and enjoy the promise of heaven, the unappreciative people complain about how bad hell is. Ironically, they try very hard to enter the place they are so critical of. Though many people will end up in hell forever, it does not mean that hell is eternal. Similarly, verses informing us about disbelievers or idol worshipers staying in Hell eternally, does not necessarily mean that Hell is eternal, unless we are informed that Hell itself is eternal. It simply means that disbelievers and idol worshipers would end up in Hell and nothing else. If Hell together with its inhabitants one day ceased to exist, then the disbelievers or idol worshipers would have stayed in Hell eternally. Their punishment would be the entire life of Hell. In fact, the Quran informs us that both the eternal punishment in Hell and reward in Paradise is conditioned on their life span (11:107). Let's reflect on verse 40:11 and 67:2. The first verse refers to two creations and two deaths and the second refers to creation of death and life. These two verses can be understood better if we know that in the Quranic language, death cannot exist without life and vice versa. They exist together, since Death is the permanent halt of the brain's conscious activity (39:42; 16:21) and a temporal stage to be followed by resurrection (29:57; 10:56; 22:6). Death is a process which leads to life. A living creature will die and a dead creature will get a new life (22:66). Vegetation experiences successive lives and deaths through seasons (2:64; 3:27; 6:95; 16:65; 22:5-6; 30:19-50; 35:9). After the first creation there was no death nor life; we just existed. But, God decided to create death and life (67:2). Creation, death, life (current), death, life (resurrection). In other words, two deaths and two lives (40:11). The word HaLaKa, on the other hand, is occasionally used to describe the death of an individual (40:34), but usually irreversible destruction and annihilation, or total existential extinction of an entity (5:17; 6:6; 6:47; 8:42; 20:128; 21:95; 22:45; 28:59; 36:31; 69:5; 77:16). The Quran informs us that the Earth and the Heavens will be changed with a different Earth and Heavens (14:48). If the re-creation referred to in this verse is the one before the Day of Judgment, then there is the possibility of another re-creation. There are indications that Paradise will be preserved or created again. For instance, the word KHuLD (eternal, everlasting) is not used for Hell, but it is used as an adjective to describe Paradise (25:15). On the other hand the same adjective is not used to describe Hell, but to describe the punishment in Hell (10:52; 41:28). Verse 8:42 does not only refer to the loss of lives and surviving a particular battle, but also to a higher cosmic event: disbelievers will perish forever since they relied on falsehood, while believers will last forever since they relied on a clear argument. No wonder life and death are used as metaphors for attaining truth or falsehood (6:122). In fact, witnessing and acknowledging the truth leads to life, metaphorically and literally (8:24). From the above verse, it is fair to infer that those who reject the divine message will lose eternal life. Will they die in Hell? The answer is No: "Anyone who comes to His Lord guilty will deserve Hell, wherein he never dies, nor stays alive." (20:74). Then, the alternative is obvious: total annihilation, ontological extinction together with Hell. Those programs with free choice that chose to corrupt themselves with the worst diabolic viruses (such as associating partners with God or killing an innocent program) will be sentenced to an eternal punishment: after resurrection they will experience a period of diagnosis, justice, regret and then with the creation of a new earth and heaven, they will be hurled to non- existence together with Hell. Perhaps, their memories too will be erased from the minds of their relatives who chose eternal life by dedicating their religion to God alone and by leading a righteous life with the day of judgment in mind. It is interesting that the Quran refers to this annihilation through ultimate deletion from the ultimate record. God's deliberate deletion of their existence from His mind. (34:14). The Quran repeatedly comforts us by reminding us of God's perfect justice. The following verse provides us with a precise idea of God's justice and mercy: "For those who did good work there will be the best and more. . . As for those who earned evil, they will receive equivalent evil (10:27). Suffering in an eternal Hell creates a contradiction between this divine justice, since eternity can not be equal to an evil committed during a limited human life-span. However, eternal punishment for the lifetime of a non-eternal Hell avoids such a contradiction. After receiving an equivalent punishment, the chief evil-doers like those referred to in verse 4:48, will be eliminated from existence. They will end up in Hell and Hell will end up in nothingness. No wonder the first and the most repeated verse of the Quran reminds us over and over again that God is Gracious, Merciful (1:1).

I.e., that God is not enough to succour him: obviously an allusion to the type of man who "worships God on the border-line of faith'' (verse 11 above) and therefore doubts His power to guide men towards happiness in this world and in the hereafter. The assumption of the majority of the commentators that the personal pronoun "him'' relates to the Prophet Muhammad is, to my mind, very far-fetched and certainly not warranted by the context.

The rendering of la-yaqta as "let him [try to] make headway'' is based on the accepted, tropical use of the verb qataa (lit., "he cut'') in the sense of "traversing a distance'': and this is the interpretation of yaqta by Abu Muslim (as quoted by Razi). The expression "by any [other] means" (bi-sabab) relates to what has been said in verses 12-13 above.

Lit., "that which causes anger'' or "exasperation", i.e., anguish at finding himself helpless and abandoned.

Or: "God guides aright whomever He wills". For an explanation of the rendering adopted by me, see note 4 on 14:4.

See surah 2 note 49.

Al-majus: the followers of Zoroaster or Zarathustra (Zardusht), the Iranian prophet who lived about the middle of the last millennium B.C, and whose teachings are laid down in the Zend-Avesta. They are represented today by the Gabrs of Iran and, more prominently, by the Parsis of India and Pakistan. Their religion, though dualistic in philosophy, is based on belief in God as the Creator of the universe.

The Christians and the Magians (Zoroastrians) are included in the first category, for although they do ascribe divine qualities to other beings beside God, they regard those beings, fundament­ally, as no more than manifestations - or incarnations - of the One God, thus persuading them­selves that they are worshipping Him alone; whereas "those who are bent on ascribing divinity to beings other than God" (alladhina ashraku) by obvious implication reject the principle of His oneness and uniqueness.

For the meaning of this "prostration'', see 13:15 and 16:48-49, and the corresponding notes. My rendering of the relative pronoun man, in this context, as "all [things and beings] that…" is explained in note 33 on 13:15.

According to Zamakhshari and Razi, this interpolated phrase - with its stress on "consciously" - is an elliptically implied predicate (khabar) linked with the preceding nominal subject (mubtada): the purport being that although everything in creation "prostrates itself'' before God, willingly or unwillingly (cf. 13:15), not all human beings do so consciously.

Lit., "whereas upon many a one the suffering [in the life to come] has become unavoidably incumbent (haqqa alayhi)", i.e., as a necessary consequence and corollary of his attitude in this world, and not as an arbitrary "punishment" in the conventional sense of this term.

Lit., "these two adversaries'' or "antagonists", i.e., those who believe in God's oneness and uniqueness, and those who ascribe divine qualities to beings other than Him, or even deny His existence altogether.

I.e., in distinction from those who err out of ignorance.

For this rendering of hamim, see note 62 on the concluding sentence of 6:70, as well as note 65 on 14:50 and note 7 on 73:12-13 , which mention Razi's interpretations of similar allegorical descriptions of the suffering that will befall the sinners in the hereafter.

I.e., causing their inner and outer personality utterly to disintegrate.

Lit., ''for them will be grips (maqami) of iron''. The noun miqmaah - of which maqami is the plural - is derived from the verb qamaa, signifying "he curbed" or "restrained" or "held in subjection" (Lisan al-Arab). Hence, the ''iron grips" mentioned in the above verse denote the inescapability of the suffering in the hereafter to which "they who are bent on denying the truth" condemn themselves.

See 18:31 and the corresponding note 41.

2:136, 11:121, 22:55-56. Sabians = ?Agnostics, 2:62

104:6-7

21:39, 57:25

18:31

People who have insisted upon going to Hell will inevitably complain: `Had we known how bad this is, we would have behaved differently.'They will be told that the horrors of Hell have been pointed out to them in the most graphic, though symbolic, terms. It should be noted that Heaven and Hell are almost invariably mentioned together in the Quran.