The canto opens with Dante wondering 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. Indeed, the sinners in the ninth chasm are damned to walk around the chasm until they arrive at a devil who slashes them with a long sword, according to the nature of their sin.
The first one Dante sees is Mahomet, disemboweled, who tells him that his son-in-law, Ali, is in the same condition and that all the others are horribly mangled in some manner. As they circle the chasm, the wounds heal, but when they complete the circle, the wounds are renewed by a devil with a sword.
Mahomet explains that these sinners were responsible for scandal and rift, and therefore, they are torn apart as they tore others apart in life. Mahomet asks Dante to tell Fra Dolcino, who is still alive, to store food for the winter or risk joining him in the chasm. After asking Dante to warn his friend, Mahomet moves on.
Another soul addresses Dante and asks that he warn Guido and Angiolello that they will be thrown from their ships into the sea by the one-eyed traitor (Malatestino). Dante will bear this sinner's name to the upper world, if he shows him a soul he spoke of as having seen the land of the traitor.
