chastisement of the Fire, which you called a lie” (32:20).

These verses are self-explanatory. Those in Hell shall desire to escape from it but shall not be able to do so; even if they could offer the whole earth as a ransom, they would not be able to get out. The evil consequences of sin cannot be avoided, howsoever one may desire, and even so is the fire of Hell. None can escape from it. But not a word is there in any of these verses to show that God will not take them out of it, or that the tortures of Hell are endless. They only show that every sinner must suffer the consequences of what he has done, and that he cannot escape them; but that he may be set free when he has undergone the necessary chastisement, or that God may, of His boundless mercy, deliver the sinners when He pleases, is not denied here.

Even if abad is taken to mean eternity, the abiding in Hell, according to the Holy Qur’ān, must cease at some time, because a limit is placed on it by the addition of the words except as Allāh pleases (illā mā shā’a Allāh) which clearly indicate the ultimate deliverance of those in Hell. The following two verses may be noted in this connection: “He will say, The fire is your abode — you shall abide therein, except as Allāh pleases. Surely thy Lord is Wise, Knowing” (6:129). “Then as for those who are unhappy, they will be in the fire; for them will be sighing and groaning — abiding therein so long as the heavens and the earth endure, except as thy Lord pleases. Surely thy Lord is the mighty Doer of what He intends” (11:106, 107).

Both these verses show that the abiding in Hell must come to an end. To make this connection clearer still, the Holy Qur’ān has used a similar expression for those in Paradise but with quite a different ending: “And as for those who are made happy, they will be in the Garden, abiding therein so long as the heavens and the earth endure, except as thy Lord pleases — a gift never to be cut off” (11:108). The two expressions are similar; those in Hell and those in Paradise abide, each in his place, as long as the heavens and the earth endure, with an exception added in each case — except as thy Lord pleases — showing that they may be taken out of that condition. But the concluding statements are different. In the case of Paradise, the idea that those in it may be taken out of it, if God pleases, is immediately followed by the statement that it is a gift that shall never be cut off,