When they are cast therein, they will hear the (terrible) drawing in(5564) of its breath even as it blazes forth,
5564 For skahiq see n. 1607 to 11:106. There shahiq (sobs) was contrasted with zafir (sighs): in the one case it is the drawing in of breath, and in the other the emission of a deep breath. Here the latter process is represented by the verb f ara, to swell, to blaze forth, to gush forth. In 11:40, the verb fara was applied to the gushing forth of the waters of the Flood: here the verb is applied to the blazing forth of the Fire of Punishment. Fire is personified: in its intake it has a fierce appetite: in the flames which it throws out, it has a fierce aggressiveness. And yet in ultimate result evil meets the same fate, whether typified by water or fire.