Qur’anic descriptions of Zaqqūm as a punishment in Jahannam and its role in theological interpretations of the afterlife
Zacoum (Arabic: زقوم, Zaqqūm) is a mythical tree of torment described in Islamic eschatology as growing in the depths of Hell (Jahannam). The term appears in several Qur’anic verses, where it is depicted as one of the punishments awaiting the damned in the afterlife. In Sura 37:62–68, the tree is described as arising from the bottom of Hell, with fruits like the heads of devils (ru’ūs al-shayāṭīn) that boil in the bellies of those who consume them. Similar references occur in Sura 44:43–46 and Sura 56:52, where it is portrayed as foul, painful, and inescapable for the condemned.
In classical tafsīr (Qur’anic exegesis), the Tree of Zaqqūm is interpreted both literally and metaphorically. Some exegetes like Ibn Kathīr emphasized its literal existence in Jahannam, while others considered it a symbolic representation of spiritual corruption or divine punishment. The tree is often described in hadith literature and eschatological treatises as an inversion of the nourishing Tree of Paradise, forming part of a wider dualism in Islamic cosmology.
The concept of Zacoum extended into Islamic, Persian, and Ottoman literary traditions, frequently appearing in moralistic and visionary texts. It became a poetic emblem of suffering, and was invoked in Sufi literature to contrast the soul’s path toward divine union with the torments of spiritual estrangement. References can be found in works by al-Ghazālī, al-Maqdisī, and later Persian poets such as Sanā’ī and ʿAṭṭār, who often employed eschatological imagery to underscore ethical or mystical lessons.
Although not part of pre-Islamic Arabian mythology, Zacoum became firmly embedded in Islamic conceptions of the afterlife, often included in eschatological manuals, Islamic cosmographies, and medieval encyclopedic texts. The visual and symbolic intensity of its description has made it a lasting image in religious literature concerned with punishment, divine justice, and the moral consequences of earthly actions.
Sources:
- Qur’an: 37:62–68, 44:43–46, 56:52
- Ibn Kathīr, Tafsīr al-Qurʾān al-ʿAẓīm
- Al-Ghazālī, al-Durra al-Fākhira fī Kashf ʿUlūm al-Ākhira
- Toufic Fahd, La divination arabe: Études d’histoire religieuse et d’histoire des sciences
- Annemarie Schimmel, Mystical Dimensions of Islam
