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Sura 38
Aya 58
58
وَآخَرُ مِن شَكلِهِ أَزواجٌ

Muhammad Asad

and, coupled with it, further [suffering] of a similar nature.1
  • Lit., "of its kind": i.e., corresponding in intensity to what the Qur'an describes as hamim and ghassaq. For my rendering of hamim as "burning despair", see surah 6, note 62. The term ghassaq, on the other hand, is derived from the verb ghasaqa, "it became dark" or "intensely dark" (Taj al-'Arus); thus, al-ghasiq denotes "black darkness" and, tropically, "the night" or, rather, "the black night". According to some authorities, the form ghassaq signifies "intense [or "icy"] cold". A combination of these two meanings gives us the concept of the "ice-cold darkness" of the spirit which, together with "burning despair" (hamim), will characterize the suffering of inveterate sinners in the life to come. All other interpretations of the term ghassaq are purely speculative and, therefore, irrelevant.