"Cursed" (qutila) means: damned are the "people of the trench" (ashab al-ukhdud), "of fire full of fuel" (an-nari dhat al-waqud), up to His saying "witnesses" (shuhud). The ukhdud is the trench in the earth, and its plural is akhadid. Al-Hasan said: The people of the trench were eighty in number, between men and women. The polytheists seized them and dug a trench for them in the ground, then they kindled a massive fire for them, then [f. 390] they began to say
﴿قتل﴾ لعن ﴿أَصْحَابُ الأُخْدُودِ﴾ ﴿النَّارِ ذَاتِ الْوَقُودِ﴾ إِلَى قَوْله ﴿شُهُود﴾ الْأُخْدُودُ: الشِّقُّ فِي الْأَرْضِ، وَجَمْعُهُ: أَخَادِيدُ. قَالَ الْحَسَنُ: كَانَ أَصْحَابُ الْأُخْدُودِ ثَمَانِينَ بَيْنَ رَجُلٍ وَامْرَأَةٍ، فَأَخذهُم الْمُشْركُونَ، فَخُذُوا لَهُمْ أُخْدُودًا فِي الْأَرْضِ، ثُمَّ أَوْقَدُوا لَهُمْ نَارًا ضَخْمَةً ثُمَّ (ل ٣٩٠) فَجَعَلُوا يَقُولُونَ
