It is a journey by Dr. Dahesh into 52 lower degrees of hell, "the underworld of eternal gloom," or "the kingdom of darkness." The author depicted scenes of the sinners' suffering and quaking horrors. The book, however, does not confine itself to a description of these sinners, but it reveals the reasons for suffering in hell. In fact, two motives actuate his descriptions: a punitive one with the purpose of deterring men from committing evil, and one of compassion with the purpose of offering them guidance.
Thus, The Inferno of Dr. Dahesh is not only a literary masterpiece but also a moral one; its purpose is to reveal divine justice: the reward or punishment of man according to his deeds.
The book consists of 52 rhymed prose poems of four sestets each. Each poem describes an infernal underworld in a lower degree of hell. Though the allotment of four sestets only to an infernal underworld is a little short, yet each of these sestets is fraught iwth an atmosphere of ghastly dread. Accompanying these poems are two expressive illustrations of each infernal world, which add more to the piled up horrors. Halim Dammous wrote of these poems, saying: "The verse ran like a motion picture of hell in full colors."