Surah 111 - Old Noose

Damn the influence of Abu Lahab ('Father of Flames'), damn him!
May his fortune fail him and everything he has acquired!
He'll be burnt in a blaze of flames,
his wife the wood-bearer,
a rough old noose around her neck!

Commentary

I take certain liberties with vocabulary. Technically the surah is called 'palm fibre', which I imagine a cheap rough material, and translate instead with the colloquial 'rough old...'.

Rhyme emphasizes 'b' sounds on all but the final verse (the words translated here: damn / acquired / flames / wood). The absence of rhyme in the final line adds bathos.

An obvious pun is made on Abu Lahab's name and the envisaged form of punishment.

I choose to interpret his wife's punishment as connected with his: she is forced to bring the kindling for his funeral pyre. Abu Lahab was reputedly Muhammad's half uncle.