أُو۟لَٰٓئِكَ مَأْوَىٰهُمُ ٱلنَّارُ بِمَا كَانُوا۟ يَكْسِبُونَ
Commentary:
The verse uses the words یکسبون (they earn) and not یعملون (they do) to point to the philosophy of sin. Only a wrongful act done deliberately or repeatedly deserves to be punished. He is not a sinner, delaying punishment, who in a state of passing forgetfulness and with no deliberate intention is guilty of a temporary moral lapse, nor is that person a sinner in the true sense of the word who falters and commits a sin but is immediately after seized with sincere remorse and repents of his action, and at once sets about mending his conduct. The subject has also been dealt with in 53:33.
Speaking of the punishment of sinners, the verse says, It is these whose abode is Fire. The word ماوی (abode) is used to signify a place which a person repairs to for lodging and which he looks upon as a refuge and an asylum (see 79:42). It seems strange that "Fire" should be spoken of as a refuge and an asylum, but the Quran has used this word in order to point to the real significance and true nature and purpose of Divine punishment, which is that the punishment of God is not meant to inflict pain but to heal. According to Islam, Hell is not a place of torture but a sort of reformatory or hospital. And just as a man, though disliking the pain caused by a surgical operation, submits to it gladly because he sees his own good in it. Similarly when sinners come to realize the real purpose of Divine punishment, they will look upon it as a place of refuge, i.e. a means of deliverance from the real punishment which is the displeasure of God and estrangement from Him. Thus, by using the word ماوی (abode) with regard to the fire of Hell the Quran means to point out that it is not with the intent of torture but a necessary means of purification.