Question:
In Qur’an Surah 77, verses 29–33, what is being described? What is the meaning of those verses?
Answer:
These verses are about the people of Hell on the Day of Judgment.
After Allahﷻ judges the people and declares who are the inhabitants of Hell, those condemned will be addressed. What is said to them appears in those verses.
They will be told: “Proceed to that which you used to deny.” In this world they used to say: “What Paradise? What Hell?”
They did not believe. Now the judgment has been made that they are people of Hell. Therefore, they are told: “Go toward what you used to deny.”
This is the first statement addressed to them when they are sent to Hell. Then they are told: “Go toward the shadow of a smoke that splits into three branches.” Hellfire produces smoke. That smoke will rise like three towering columns, as though three pillars are standing upright. The smoke rises upward in three massive streams.
So, they are told: “Go toward the shadow of that smoke.”
But that shadow will not be cool. If you place an object near fire, its shadow falls on the fire itself. If you stand in that shadow, will it cool you? No. The shadow falls within the fire itself.
Therefore, it will not protect them from the flames. The verse says that this shadow will not provide coolness nor protection from the fire. Then it describes how Hellfire throws out sparks.
When fire burns intensely, flames burst out. But the sparks of Hellfire are not like the sparks we see in ordinary fires. When we see normal fire, tiny particles scatter like small dust. But the sparks of Hell will be enormous. Each spark will be like a palace in size. Such massive sparks will burst forth from the fire.
Their colour will be like yellow camels. So, the verses describe the magnitude and terror of Hellfire.
In summary, Allahﷻ describes Hell to the condemned people before they enter it. They are told: The fire is blazing intensely. Smoke rises in three great columns. A shadow appears from that smoke, but that shadow does not provide coolness. It does not protect from the flames. Sparks burst out like enormous palaces, yellow like camels.
After describing this terrifying reality, they are told to proceed toward Hell. That is the meaning of those verses. No further explanation is needed; it is clear.