The Holy Quran with Five Volume Commentary (Vol 5) — Page 82
QAF PT. 26 لِلْعَبِيدِي يَوْمَ نَقُولُ لِجَهَنَّمَ هَلِ امْتَلَاتِ وَتَقُولُ هَلْ مِنْ مَّزِيْدِ وَأَزْ لِفَتِ الْجَنَّةُ لِلْمُتَّقِينَ غَيْرَ بَعِيدِ be هذَا مَا تُوْعَدُونَ لِكُلِّ أَوَّابٍ حَفِيظٌ ® CH. 50 not in the least unjust to My servants. '3878 R. 3. 31. On that day We will say to Hell, 'Art thou filled up?', and it will answer, 'Is there any more?'3879 Heaven will 32. "And brought near to the righteous, no longer remote. 3 3880 33. And it will be said, 'This is what was promised to you—to everyone who always turned to God and was watchful of his actions. "26:91; 81:14. 3878. Commentary: God admonishes both the parties to stop wrangling and quarrelling and shifting the responsibility to one another as His sentence has already been pronounced and His Word never changes. 3879. Commentary: The dialogue is metaphorical. Hell has been personified here and words are put in its mouth to express its state or condition and not that it will actually speak or, for that matter, it can speak. The word & has been used in this sense in 41:12 also where the heaven and the earth have been described as saying that they obey divine laws willingly. It is one of the peculiarities and beauties of the Arabic language that it uses words and expressions for inanimate things which are used for human beings. There is a famous Arabic proverb: قال الجدار للوتد لم تشقنى قالت سل من يد قنى i. e. the wall said to the peg "why dost thou pierce me?" It said, "Ask him 2978 who strikes me from behind. " Similarly, a famous Arab poet says: يريد الرمح صدر أبى براء و يعدل عن دماء بني عقيل i. e. the spear intends to pierce the breast of Abu Barā', but it turns away from the blood of the sons of ‘Uqail. (Lane). The expression in fact, points to man's unlimited capacity for committing sins and his inordinate desire for worldly comforts which pave his way to Hell. 3880. Commentary: If, as mentioned in the preceding verse, more and more sinners will be thrown into Hell for being purged and purified of their spiritual maladies, the present verse says, that Heaven will also be brought near for the righteous and the God-fearing.