“It held in its hand by the hair and to and fro’me let the dissevered head swing lantern-wise”
. . . . .
Dante wonders how to describe the sinners in the ninth chasm. This is the place of the Sowers of Discord and Scandal, and the Creators of Schism within the papacy. He warns that the punishment in this part of Hell is bloody and grotesque. these sinners were responsible for scandal and rift, and therefore, they are torn apart as they tore others apart in life. In keeping with the theme of Divine Retribution that runs throughout Inferno, the sinners in the ninth chasm, the Sowers of Discord, are brutally split and mutilated, just as they split and mutilated aspects of religion, politics, or kinsmen. Dante obviously sees Mahomet as one of the chief sinners responsible for the division between Christianity and Islam. Dante blames Mahomet's successor, Ali, as well.