إِنَّ ٱلَّذِينَ سَبَقَتْ لَهُم مِّنَّا ٱلْحُسْنَىٰٓ أُو۟لَٰٓئِكَ عَنْهَا مُبْعَدُونَ · لَا يَسْمَعُونَ حَسِيسَهَا وَهُمْ فِى مَا ٱشْتَهَتْ أَنفُسُهُمْ خَٰلِدُونَ · لَا يَحْزُنُهُمُ ٱلْفَزَعُ ٱلْأَكْبَرُ وَتَتَلَقَّىٰهُمُ ٱلْمَلَٰٓئِكَةُ هَٰذَا يَوْمُكُمُ ٱلَّذِى كُنتُمْ تُوعَدُونَ
Inna'lladhīna sabaqat lahum minna'l-ḥusnā ulāʾika ʿanhā mubʿadūn · Lā yasmaʿūna ḥasīsahā wa hum fī ma'shtahat anfusuhum khālidūn · Lā yaḥzunuhumu'l-fazaʿu'l-akbaru wa tatalaqqāhumu'l-malāʾikah, hādhā yawmukumu'lladhī kuntum tūʿadūn
"As for those for whom the best has already gone forth from Us, they will be kept far from it. · They will not hear even its faintest sound, and they will abide in what their souls desire. · The greatest terror will not grieve them, and the angels will meet them: 'This is your day, the one you were promised.'"
And these three verses are the exact counterpart of the three before them. The contrast is built in the words:
| Element | 98-100 (the first group) | 101-103 (the second group) |
|---|---|---|
| Relation to the fire | antum lahā wāridūn — those who go down to it | ulāʾika ʿanhā mubʿadūn — those kept far from it |
| Hearing | wa hum fīhā lā yasmaʿūn | lā yasmaʿūna ḥasīsahā |
| Duration | wa kullun fīhā khālidūn | wa hum … khālidūn |
| Group | What lā yasmaʿūn means |
|---|---|
| Those who go down (100) | While inside it they do not hear — a deprivation |
| Those kept far (102) | They do not hear even its faintest sound — a protection |
حَسِيس — root ح-س-س: the faintest trace perceived by the senses. Ḥiss — sense; ḥasīs — the slightest sound that reaches the ear, a whisper, a rustle.
And the word is from the same root as the verb in the sūra's twelfth verse: fa-lammā aḥassū baʾsanā — "when they felt Our might". The same root: one conveys a sensing, the other a not-sensing. It is a repetition that can be verified within the sūra.
I record this as my own reading, its ground being the shared root: in the twelfth verse a people who felt the punishment fled. In the hundred and second a people is described who do not even sense the faintest sound of it. Two states, the two ends of the same root.
سَبَقَتْ لَهُم مِّنَّا ٱلْحُسْنَىٰ — sabaqat — root س-ب-ق: to go ahead, to come first. And the subject of the verb is al-ḥusnā: the best, which has come first.
And there is again a fine point in the preposition lahum: "for them". And the note minnā conveys the source. That is, the sentence says three things at once: time (before), direction (for them), source (from Us).
ٱلْفَزَعُ ٱلْأَكْبَر — root ف-ز-ع: sudden fear, a start of alarm. And the attribute is an elative: al-akbar — the greatest. What is meant is not said; several explanations are transmitted in the classical commentaries. The verse does not give it; nor do I.
تَتَلَقَّىٰهُمُ ٱلْمَلَٰٓئِكَة — tatalaqqā — root ل-ق-ي, Form V: to meet, to receive. And the form conveys that the meeting is done by going towards.