We say to Hell, and it says
نَقُولُ لِجَهَنَّمَ هَلِ ٱمْتَلَأْتِ وَتَقُولُ
naqūlu li-jahannama hali imtalaʾti wa-taqūlu — We say to Hell, “Have you been filled?” and it says
In (50:30) the root ق و ل is used twice in one verse, first of God speaking to Hell and then of Hell answering, so the act of saying passes between the two parties in a mirrored exchange.
The verse opens with a time frame, “The Day We say to Hell” (50:30), fixing the exchange to a particular day. The first verb, نَقُولُ, is an imperfect first-person form: the speaker is “We”, addressing Hell with the question “Have you been filled?” (50:30). The second verb, وَتَقُولُ, is an imperfect third-person feminine form, and its subject is Hell itself, the party just addressed. Hell does not remain a silent object of the question but becomes a speaker in its own right, replying “Is there any increase?” (50:30). The two verbs share one root, ق و ل, and the verse marks the shift between them only by a change of person: first-person “We say” followed by third-person feminine “it says”, the feminine agreeing with جهنّم. The structure is a direct address and an answer: the question هَلِ ٱمْتَلَأْتِ is put to Hell, and Hell's own utterance هَلْ مِن مَّزِيدٍ comes back. Both questions begin with هَلْ, so the two utterances mirror each other in form as well as in verb root. The verse gives Hell a voice and presents the exchange as a dialogue rather than a declaration about Hell; what the verse itself states is that a question is asked of Hell and that Hell replies with a further question.
Where it occurs
- 50:30 The verse pairs نَقُولُ (first person, God speaking to Hell) with وَتَقُولُ (third feminine, Hell answering), making one root carry a two-way exchange.
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