The People of the Trench

The People of the Trench are tyrants who dug a trench filled with fire and cast believers into it, whose only fault was believing in God. The Quran curses them and makes their victims an example of steadfastness in faith.

The Quran evokes a blazing pit beside which tyrants sat to witness the torment of believers they were casting into it. Their sole reproach against these believers: faith in God, the All-Powerful, the Praiseworthy, to whom belongs the kingdom of the heavens and the earth.

The Quran hurls a curse against these torturers — 'Cursed be the makers of the trench' — and announces the punishment of Hell for those who persecute believers without repenting, while the tested believers will have the gardens of Paradise.

The Quranic text names neither the era, nor the place, nor the persons. Tradition reports several accounts (notably the story of the young man and the king), but these belong to interpretation, not the revealed text.

The People of the Trench recall that faith sometimes has a terrible price, and that believers have been persecuted to death simply for believing. The Quran honours their steadfastness and promises justice: the torturers will not escape, and the victims will have Paradise.

قُتِلَ أَصْحَابُ الْأُخْدُودِ

Que périssent les gens du fossé

85:4

وَمَا نَقَمُوا مِنْهُمْ إِلَّا أَن يُؤْمِنُوا بِاللَّهِ الْعَزِيزِ الْحَمِيدِ

auxquels ils reprochaient uniquement de croire en Allah, digne de toutes les louanges et Tout-Puissant,

85:8