The wailing and cries of the Hell people
Their sorrow, regret and supplications: When the disbelievers (kuffaar) see Hell, they will be filled with intense regret, at a time when regret will be of no avail:
وَأَسَرُّوا۟ ٱلنَّدَامَةَ لَمَّا رَأَوُا۟ ٱلْعَذَابَ ۖ وَقُضِىَ بَيْنَهُم بِٱلْقِسْطِ ۚ وَهُمْ لَا يُظْلَمُونَ ٥٤
And they will confide regret when they see the punishment; and they will be judged in justice, and they will not be wronged.
[Qur’an 10: 54]
When the kaafir will look at the record of his deeds, and sees his kufr and shirk, for which he deserves eternal Hell, he will pray for
oblivion and death:
وَأَمَّا مَنْ أُوتِىَ كِتَـٰبَهُۥ وَرَآءَ ظَهْرِهِۦ ١٠
فَسَوْفَ يَدْعُوا۟ ثُبُورًۭا ١١
وَيَصْلَىٰ سَعِيرًا ١٢
But he who is given his Record behind his back, soon will he cry for perdition, and he will enter a blazing Fire.
[Qur’an 84: 10-12]
They will repeat their prayer for oblivion when they are thrown into the Fire and its heat touches them:
((﴿وَأَعْتَدْنَا لِمَنْ کَذَّبَ بِالسَّاعَۃِ سَعِیْرًا. إِذَا رَأَتْہُمْ مِّنْ مَّکَانٍ بَعِیْدٍ سَمِعُوْا لَہَا تَغَیُّظًا وَّزَفِیْرًا . وَإِذَا أُلْقُوْا مِنْہَا مَکَانًا ضَیِّقًا مُّقَرَّنِیْنَ دَعَوْا ہُنَالِکَ ثُبُوْرًا. لاَ تَدْعُوْا الْیَوْمَ ثُبُوْرًا وَّاحِدًا وَّادْعُوْا ثُبُوْرًا کَثِیْرًا))
But they have denied the Hour, and We have prepared for those who deny the Hour a Blaze.
When it [i.e., the Hellfire] sees them from a distant place, they will hear its fury and roaring.
And when they are thrown into a narrow place therein bound in chains, they will cry out thereupon for destruction.
[They will be told], “Do not cry this Day for one destruction but cry for much destruction.”
[Qur’an 25: 11-14]
﴿وَالَّذِیْنَ کَفَرُوْا لَہُمْ نَارُ جَہَنَّمُ لاَ یُقْضٰی عَلَیْہِمْ فَیَمُوْتُوْا وَلاَیُخَفَّفُ عَنْہُمْ مِّنْ عَذَابِہَا کَذٰلِکَ نَجْزِیْ کُلَّ کَفُوْرٍ . وَہُمْ یَصْطَرِخُوْنَ فِیْہَا رَبَّنَا أَخْرِجْنَا نَعْمَلْ صَالِحًا غَیْرَ الَّذِیْ کُنَّا نَعْمَلُ أَوَلَمْ نُعَمِّرْکُمْ مَّا یَتَذَکَّرُ فِیْہِ مَنْ تَذَکَّرَ وَجَآئَ کُمُ النَّذِیْرُ فَذُوْقُوْا فَمَا لِلظَّالِمِیْنَ مِنْ نَّصِیْرٍ﴾ ))
And for those who disbelieve will be the fire of Hell. [Death] is not decreed for them1 so they may die, nor will its torment be lightened for them. Thus do We recompense every ungrateful one. [35: 36]
And they will cry out therein, “Our Lord, remove us;1 we will do righteousness – other than what we were doing!” But did We not grant you life enough for whoever would remember therein to remember, and the warner had come to you? So taste [the punishment], for there is not for the wrongdoers any helper. [35: 37]
At that time, they will come to realize the error and foolishness of their kufr.
وَقَالُوا۟ لَوْ كُنَّا نَسْمَعُ أَوْ نَعْقِلُ مَا كُنَّا فِىٓ أَصْحَـٰبِ ٱلسَّعِيرِ ١٠
فَٱعْتَرَفُوا۟ بِذَنۢبِهِمْ فَسُحْقًۭا لِّأَصْحَـٰبِ ٱلسَّعِيرِ ١١
And they will admit their sin, so [it is] alienation for the companions of the Blaze.
Indeed, those who fear their Lord unseen will have forgiveness and great reward.
[Qur’an 67: 10-11]
قَالُوا۟ رَبَّنَآ أَمَتَّنَا ٱثْنَتَيْنِ وَأَحْيَيْتَنَا ٱثْنَتَيْنِ فَٱعْتَرَفْنَا بِذُنُوبِنَا فَهَلْ إِلَىٰ خُرُوجٍۢ مِّن سَبِيلٍۢ
They will say, “Our Lord, You made us lifeless twice and gave us life twice, and we have confessed our sins. So is there to an exit any way?”
[Qur’an: 40: 11]
Everything they ask for will be turned down. There will be no coming out of the Fire, no reduction in the torment, and no oblivion. Rather, it is an ongoing, eternal punishment, and at that time they will be told:
..And whether you are patient of it or impatient of it, it is all the same. You are only being requited for what you used to do.
(Qur’an 52: 16)
Then their wailing will increase, and they will weep for a long time:
فَلْيَضْحَكُوا۟ قَلِيلًۭا وَلْيَبْكُوا۟ كَثِيرًۭا جَزَآءًۢ بِمَا كَانُوا۟ يَكْسِبُونَ ٨٢
So let them laugh a little and [then] weep much as recompense for what they used to earn.
[Qur’an 09: 82]
They will weep until no tears are left, then they will weep blood, and their tears will leave traces on their faces like the heavy rain and flood leave traces in the rock. In Al-Mustadrak by Al-Haakim there is a report from
‘Abdullah ibn Qays that the Messenger of Allah ( ﷺ) said:
“The people of Hell will weep so much that if ships wereplaced in their tears they would float, and they will weep blood – meaning, instead of tears.”
Anas ibn Maalik reported that the Prophet (ﷺ) said:
“The people of Hell will be made to weep, and they will weep until they have no tears left. Then they will weep blood until
they have as it were channels in their faces, if ships were put in them, they would float.”
Sheikh Naasiruddeen al-A lbani narrated these tw o hadiths in S ilsila t alahaadeeth as-Saheehah, 4/245, hadith no. 1679, and attributed the first hadith to Al-Haakim in Al-Mustadrak. Al-Haakim said about it: “It is a hadith whose isnaad is saheeh.”
Adh-Dhahabi agreed with him. Sheikh Naasir said: He should have added: according to the conditions of Bukhari and Muslim.
“All the men of its isnaad are men who narrated the hadith they (Bukhari and Muslim) recorded. He mentioned that one of them, A bu’n-Nu‘maan, whose nickname was ‘Aarim, would confuse (sometimes).”
Sheikh Naasir quoted the second hadith in support of the first, and attributed it to Ibn Maajah and Ibn Abi’d-Dunya. Yazeed al-Raqqaas, one of the narrators, is da ‘eef, but the rest o f the narrators are those from whom
Bukhari and Muslim narrated.
Those evildoers lost their own souls and their families when they preferred kufr to Eemaan. Listen to the wailing and cries when they are punished:
The Day when their faces will be turned upside down inthe Fire, they will say, “Woe to us! Would that we hadobeyed Allah and obeyed the Messenger!” And they would say: “Our Lord, verily we obeyed our chiefs and our great ones, and they misled us from the [Right] Path.
Our Lord, give them double penalty and curse them with a very great curse !
(Qur’an 33: 66-68)
فَأَمَّا ٱلَّذِينَ شَقُوا۟ فَفِى ٱلنَّارِ لَهُمْ فِيهَا زَفِيرٌۭ وَشَهِيقٌ ١٠٦
خَـٰلِدِينَ فِيهَا مَا دَامَتِ ٱلسَّمَـٰوَٰتُ وَٱلْأَرْضُ إِلَّا مَا شَآءَ رَبُّكَ ۚ إِنَّ رَبَّكَ فَعَّالٌۭ لِّمَا يُرِيدُ ١٠٧
As for those who were [destined to be] wretched, they will be in the Fire. For them therein is [violent] exhaling and inhaling.
[They will be] abiding therein as long as the heavens and the earth endure, except what your Lord should will. Indeed, your Lord is an effecter of what He intends.
[Qur’an 11: 106- 107]
Az-Zajjaaj said: “The ‘high tone’ (Az-Zafeer) is because of the intensity of their groaning, and it is very high. It is also suggested that
Az-Zafeer means the panting of the breath in the chest due to extreme fear, so that the ribs become swollen.
The ‘low tone’ (Ash-Shaheeq) is a long drawn-out breath, or an intake of breath; in either case it is an indication of the great extent of their grief and anguish. Their situation is likened to that of the one whose heart is overwhelmed by heat and whose soul is surrounded by it.
Al-Layth said: ”’’Az-Zafeer means that a man will take deep breaths because of his intense grief, and Ash-Shaheeq refers to his
exhaling.”
Siddeeq Hasan Khan, Yaqazat ‘Uli a l-I‘tebaar, Pp. 72.
REFERENCE:
BOOK: “The Final Day PARADISE AND HELL In the Light of the Qur’an and Sunnah”
Dr. ‘Umar S. al-Ashqar
“Compiled by Monis Begum”