Psychological Torment: Why Salaf Scholars Fear This Verse Most
Allah states:
يُرِيدُونَ أَن يَخْرُجُوا۟ مِنَ ٱلنَّارِ وَمَا هُم بِخَٰرِجِينَ مِنْهَا ۖ وَلَهُمْ عَذَابٌ مُّقِيمٌ
Yurīdụna ay yakhrujụ minan-nāri wa mā hum bikhārijīna min-hā wa lahum ’ażābum muqīm.
“They wish to exit the Fire, yet they shall never escape it, and for them is an abiding punishment.” (Quran 5:37)
Certain Quranic verses shake the human heart not due to their length, but because of the profound horror they convey. Surah Al-Ma’idah, verse 37, is one such example. This verse speaks not merely of Hellfire, but of something far more terrifying: the eternal loss of hope.
In this world, suffering has an end. The sick hope for recovery. The poor yearn for sufficiency. Prisoners dream of freedom. Even the harshest earthly punishments have a time limit. Yet the Quran presents a different image of Hell—a place where suffering knows no end and hope has no outlet.
وَلَهُمْ عَذَابٌ مُّقِيمٌ
Wa lahum ’ażābum muqīm.
“And for them is an abiding punishment.”
The term “muqīm” in this verse is central to its terror. Classical tafsir explains it does not merely mean “long-lasting,” but signifies something fixed, continuous, unbroken, and unchanging. The punishment remains with its inhabitants like a shadow that never leaves the body.
Imam Ath-Thabari, in Jami’ al-Bayan, states that “’ażābun muqīm” refers to punishment that perpetually afflicts them without respite or alleviation. There is no pause, no rest, no death to end the suffering.
Meanwhile, Imam Al-Qurthubi, in Al-Jami’ li Ahkam al-Qur’an, interprets that the inhabitants of Hell will continually hope to escape, only for their hope to be repeatedly crushed. Each time they believe an exit may exist, the door slams shut. This is one of the deepest forms of psychological torment: hope that persists only to be destroyed anew.
This verse also illustrates the psychology of Hell’s inhabitants:
يُرِيدُونَ أَن يَخْرُجُوا۟ مِنَ ٱلنَّارِ
Yurīdụna ay yakhrujụ minan-nār.
“They wish to exit the Fire.”