Abraham
IN THE NAME OF GOD, THE MOST GRACIOUS, THE DISPENSER OF GRACE[14:16]
with hell awaiting him; and he shall be made to drink of the water of most bitter distress,

---

* v.16 : Lit., “[with] hell beyond him,” i.e., as his destiny. For my rendering of jabbār, in this context, as “enemy of the truth,” see the first part of note 58 on 26:130.
* The word sadīd is an infinitive noun of sadda, which in its primary meaning denotes “he turned away” or “was averse [from something]”; also – as noted in the Qāmūs and the Asās – “he cried out loudly” (i.e., by reason of his aversion to something). Since sadīd signifies anything that is repulsive, it is also used tropically to describe the pus that flows from wounds or the viscous liquid that oozes from corpses. In his commentary on this verse, Rāzī suggests that the expression mā’ sadīd is here purely metaphorical, and should be understood as “water like [what is described as] sadīd.” It is in pursuance of this interpretation that I have rendered the above expression as “waters of most bitter distress” – a metaphor of the boundless suffering and bitter frustration which, in the life to come, awaits those who during their life in this world were bent on denying all spiritual truths. (Cf. the expression sharāb min hamīm – rendered by me as “a draught of burning despair” – occurring in several places and elucidated in note 62 on 6:70.)