The day when YOUR LORD comes

6. But on that day, no one will punish as He punishes..

T H E   E X P L A N A T I O N   O F V E R S E S   2 5 , 2 6

 وَلا يُوثِقُ وَثَاقَهُ أَحَدٌ  فَيَوْمَئِذٍ لا يُعَذِّبُ عَذَابَهُ أَحَدٌ 

But on that day, no one will punish as He punishes, and no one will bind as He binds.

There are two different ways this verse can be recited, both of which are acceptable. The Arabic verbs يُعَذّبُ "punish" and يُوثقُ "bind" can be pronounced as active form verbs: يُعَذِّبُ (ya'adhibu) and يُوثِقُ (yūthiqu) which makes the meaning of the verse:

But on that day, no one will punish as He punishes, and no one will bind as He binds. In other words, no one will punish with a punishment similar to Allah's as His punishment will be the most severe. And no one will bind as Allah does; His form a binding and shackling of a person is the most severe.

The second way the verse may be recited is that the two verbs above could be pronounced as passive form verbs: يُعَذَّبُ (ya'adhabu) and يُوثَقُ (yūthaqu) making the meaning: But on that day, no one will be punished as he is punished, and no one will be bound as he is bound. In other words, on that day, no one will be punished like that individual will be punished and no one will be bound as that person will be bound and shackled.

In either case, the verse is talking about a disbeliever. No one will be punished on that day as he is punished. On the Day of Judgment when people are waiting, those destined for the fire will become extremely thirsty. They will look to the fire as a mirage, like a person may see a mirage during the intense heat of summer, assuming they see water. So they will look at the fire out of extreme thirst as if it were water. They will rush to it wanting only a drink:

حَتَّى إِذَا جَاءُوهَا فُتِحَتْ أَبْوَابُهَا وَقَالَ لَهُمْ خَزَنسََتُهَا أَلَمْ يَأْتِكُمْ رُسُلٌ مِّنكُمْ 

 يَتْلُو عَلَيْكُمْ آيَاتِ رَبِّكُمْ وَيُنذِرُونسََكُمْ لِقَاءَ يَوْمِكُمْ هَذَا

Until when they reach it, its gates are opened and its keepers will ask, "Did there not come to you messengers among yourselves, reciting to you the verses of your Lord and warning you of the meeting of this day of yours?" Sūrah al-Zumar (39:71)

The proof will have been established against such individuals so the keepers of Hell will say this to them as a way of chastising them before they even enter Hell. This reproach or scolding is a punishment of the heart, a form of inner, emotional punishment before they feel the fire's physical punishment. While they are in the fire, the Almighty will then reproach them with a statement even more severe than the statement of the keepers of Hell. 

They will say to Allah:

رَبَّنَا أَخْرِجْنَا مِنْهَا فَإِ عُدْنسََا  قَالُوا رَبَّنَا غَلَبَتْ عَلَيْنَا شِقْوَتُنَا وَكُنَّا قَوْمًا ضَالِّينَ 

 فَإِنسََّا ظَالِمُو

They will say, "Our Lord, our wretchedness overcame us and we were astray. Our Lord, take us out of it and if we were to return (to evil), we would then indeed be wrongdoers." Sūrah al-Muminūn (23:106, 107)

Allah, the Most High, will then say to them, while He is the most merciful of anyone who has ever felt or showed mercy:

 اخْسَئُوا فِيهَا وَلا تُكَلِّمُو 

"Remain despised therein and do not speak to Me." Sūrah al-Muminūn (23:108)

There is no statement more humiliating, more degrading than this. "Remain despised therein and do not speak to Me." The Most-Merciful says this! If this is the case, then who is there after Him that will ever show them any mercy? At that point, there is no more mercy for them.

The prophet ( صلّى الله عليه وسلّم ) informed about the individual with the least amount of punishment in the fire, saying:

إِ أَهْوَ أَهْلِ النَّارِ عَذَابًا مَنْ لَهُ نسََعْلا وَشِرَاكَا مِنْ نسََارٍ يَغْلِي مِنْهُمَا دِمَاغُهُ «

» كَمَا يَغْلِ الْمِرْجَلُ ، مَا يَرَى أَ أَحَدًا أَشَدُّ مِنْهُ عَذَابًا ، وَإِنسََّهُ لأَهْوَنسَُهُمْ عَذَابًا

The person from the people of Hell with the lightest punishment is a man who will have two sandals or two straps of fire from which his brain will boil as a pot of water boils. He will believe that no one else is receiving a harsher punishment than his, yet he is the least punished among them.

  (Recorded by al-Bukhārī and Muslim. Ibn al-'Uthaymīn says in his explanation of this ḥadīth in Riyāḍ al- saliheen) 

His brain, at the highest part of his body, boils because of the heat at the lowest part of his body. The parts of his body in between these two points would naturally then be more severe and suffer more extreme heat. May Allah protect us and you from the fire. 

  This individual will see himself as the one receiving the worst torment yet he is actually the least punished. This is because, were he to see others (and the severe punishments they receive), he might realize the ease he is in compared to others and he might feel some sense of consolation by that. But he will think he is the most severely punished person by Allah—we seek protection with Allah—so he will feel even more anguish, more psychological distress. For this reason, the prophet ( صلّى الله عليه وسلّم ) mentioned this ḥadīth as a warning to his nation from the torment of the fire.  

and no one will bind as He binds. This is because—may Allah save us from this— they will be chained:

 ثُمَّ فِي سِلْسِلَةٍ ذَرْعُهَا سَبْعُو ذِرَاعًا فَاسْلُكُوهُ 

"Then into a chain whose length is seventy cubits insert him." Sūrah al-Ḥāqqah (69:32)

We ask Allah for safety. It is impossible to fully imagine the suffering, their misery and punishment. Therefore, every individual needs to prepare now before He will say, "I wish I had sent forth (some good) for my life." But on that day, no one will be punished as he is punished, and no one will be bound as he is bound.