Surah Al-Masad 111:1

تَبَّتْ يَدَا أَبِي لَهَبٍ وَتَبَّ

111:1 Abi Lahab أَبِي لَهَبٍpersonifies one who invents something which produces fire and kindles flames, and who has a fiery temperament and is easily enraged; one who looks beautiful because of his glowing and ruddy countenance (Lisân; Râghib; Zamakhsharî; Râzî). The expression Yada يَدَا - the two hands, is a metonym for power, help, protection, wealth and possessions: - someone who has many children, since children can also be a source of strength. Abû Lahab was the nickname (- kunyah) of ‘Abdul ‘Uzza, one of the uncles of the Holy Prophet (pbuh). This name was given to him because of his glowing countenance, his fiery temperament and his outbursts of rage. He was the Holy Prophets inveterate enemy and persecutor. Here we are told that Abû Lahab or anyone who is his personification, will have his hands, the symbol of his power, cut. This was the lot of ‘Abdul ‘Uzza. Divine punishment overtook him. For fear of his life, he did not fight in the Battle of Badr against the Holy Prophet. Only seven days after the war, he died of a disease called adasah, a deadly and contagious type of plague. Nobody ventured to go near his dead body, and quite the same was the fate of those in the war who had gone too far in their hostilities towards Islam. Moreover, similar is the punishment that lies in wait for Gog and Magog who are making all kinds of efforts against Islam. They will themselves be enveloped by the flames of the wars that they have kindled against the followers of Islam (cf. 18:98-100).