Surah Ghafir Tafseer

The Regret of the Disbelievers after They enter Hell

Allah tells;

إِنَّ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا يُنَادَوْنَ

Those who disbelieve will be addressed:

Allah tells us that the disbelievers will feel regret on the Day of Resurrection, when they enter Hell and sink in the agonizing depth of fire. When they actually experience the unbearable punishment of Allah, they will hate themselves with the utmost hatred, because of the sins they committed in the past, which were the cause of their entering the Fire. At that point the angels will tell them in a loud voice that Allah's hatred towards them in this world, when Faith was offered to them and they rejected it, is greater than their hatred towards themselves in this situation.

Qatadah said, concerning the Ayah:

لَمَقْتُ اللَّهِ أَكْبَرُ مِن مَّقْتِكُمْ أَنفُسَكُمْ إِذْ تُدْعَوْنَ إِلَى الاِْيمَانِ فَتَكْفُرُونَ

Indeed, Allah's aversion was greater towards you than your aversion toward yourselves, when you were called to the Faith but you used to refuse.

"Allah's hatred for the people of misguidance -- when Faith is presented to them in this world, and they turn away from it and refuse to accept it -- is greater than their hatred for themselves when they see the punishment of Allah with their own eyes on the Day of Resurrection."

This was also the view of Al-Hasan Al-Basri, Mujahid, As-Suddi, Dharr bin Ubaydullah Al-Hamdani, Abdur-Rahman bin Zayd bin Aslam and Ibn Jarir At-Tabari, may Allah have mercy on them all