Az-Zumar 39:42

"Allāh takes the souls at the time of their death, and those that do not die [He takes] during their sleep. Then He keeps those for which He has decreed death and releases the others for a specified term. Indeed in that are signs for a people who give thought."

إِنَّآ أَنزَلْنَا عَلَيْكَ الْكِتَـبَ

(Verily, We have sent down to you the Book) meaning, the Qur'an.

لِلنَّـاسِ بِالْحَق

(for mankind in truth.) means, for all of creation, mankind and Jinn, so that he may warn them therewith.

فَـمَنِ اهْتَـدَى فَلِنَفْسِهِ

(So, whosoever accepts the guidance, it is only for himself;) means, the benefit of that will return to him.

وَمَن ضَلَّ فَإِنَّمَا يَضِلُّ عَلَيْهَا

(and whosoever goes astray, he goes astray only for his (own) loss.) means, the consequences of that will return to him.

وَمَآ أَنتَ عَلَيْهِم بِوَكِيلٍ

(And you are not a trustee over them. ) means, `you are not responsible for guiding them.'

إِنَّمَآ أَنتَ نَذِيرٌ وَاللَّهُ عَلَى كُلِّ شَىْءٍ وَكِيلٌ

(But you are only a warner. And Allah is a Trustee over all things) (11:12).

فَإِنَّمَا عَلَيْكَ الْبَلَـغُ وَعَلَيْنَا الْحِسَابُ

(your duty is only to convey and on Us is the reckoning) (13:40).

Allah is the One Who causes Death and gives Life

Then Allah tells us that He is in control of all things and does as He wills. He causes men to die (the "greater death") when He sends the angels to take men's souls from their bodies, and He causes them to "die a lesser death" when they sleep. Allah says:

وَهُوَ الَّذِى يَتَوَفَّـكُم بِالَّيْلِ وَيَعْلَمُ مَا جَرَحْتُم بِالنَّهَارِ ثُمَّ يَبْعَثُكُمْ فِيهِ لِيُقْضَى أَجَلٌ مّسَمًّى ثُمَّ إِلَيْهِ مَرْجِعُكُمْ ثُمَّ يُنَبِّئُكُم بِمَا كُنتُمْ تَعْمَلُونَ - وَهُوَ الْقَاهِرُ فَوْقَ عِبَادِهِ وَيُرْسِلُ عَلَيْكُم حَفَظَةً حَتَّى إِذَا جَآءَ أَحَدَكُمُ الْمَوْتُ تَوَفَّتْهُ رُسُلُنَا وَهُمْ لاَ يُفَرِّطُونَ

(It is He, Who takes your souls by night (when you are asleep), and has knowledge of all that you have done by day, then He raises (wakes) you up again that a term appointed be fulfilled, then (in the end) unto Him will be your return. Then He will inform you of that which you used to do. He is the Irresistible, over His servants, and He sends guardians (angels guarding and writing all of one's good and bad deeds) over you, until when death approaches one of you, Our messengers (angels) take his soul, and they never neglect their duty.)(6:60-61). Here Allah mentions the two deaths, the lesser death then the greater death after it; in the Ayah above (39: 42), He mentions the greater then the lesser. Allah says:

اللَّهُ يَتَوَفَّى الاٌّنفُسَ حِينَ مِوْتِـهَا وَالَّتِى لَمْ تَمُتْ فِى مَنَامِـهَا فَيُمْسِكُ الَّتِى قَضَى عَلَيْهَا الْمَوْتَ وَيُرْسِلُ الاٍّخْرَى إِلَى أَجَلٍ مُّسَمًّى

(It is Allah Who takes away the souls at the time of their death, and those that die not during their sleep. He keeps those (souls) for which He has ordained death and sends the rest for a term appointed.) This indicates that they the souls meet in the higher realm, as was stated in the Hadith attributed to the Prophet which was narrated by Ibn Mandah and others. In the Two Sahihs of Al-Bukhari and Muslim, it is reported that Abu Hurayrah, may Allah be pleased with him, said that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:

«إِذَا أَوَى أَحَدُكُمْ إِلى فِرَاشِهِ فَلْيَنْفُضْهُ بِدَاخِلَةِ إِزَارِهِ، فَإِنَّهُ لَا يَدْرِي مَا خَلَفَهُ عَلَيْهِ، ثُمَّ لِيَقُلْ: بِاسْمِكَ رَبِّي وَضَعْتُ جَنْبِي، وَبِكَ أَرْفَعُهُ، إِنْ أَمْسَكْتَ نَفْسِي فَارْحَمْهَا، وَإِنْ أَرْسَلْتَهَا فَاحْفَظْهَا بِمَا تَحْفَظُ بِهِ عِبَادَكَ الصَّالِحِين»

(When anyone of you goes to bed, let him brush down the bed with his garment, for he does not know what has come on his bed since he left it. Then let him say, "In Your Name, O Lord, I lay down my side and in Your Name I raise it up; if You take my soul, have mercy on it, and if You send it back, protect it with that which You protect Your righteous servants.")

فَيُمْسِكُ الَّتِى قَضَى عَلَيْهَا الْمَوْتَ

(He keeps those (souls) for which He has ordained death) means, those which have died, and He returns the others back for an appointed term. As-Suddi said, "For the rest of their lives." Ibn `Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him, said, "He keeps the souls of the dead and sends back the souls of the living, and He does not make any mistakes.

إِنَّ فِى ذلِكَ لآيَـتٍ لِّقَوْمٍ يَتَفَكَّرُونَ

(Verily, in this are signs for a people who think deeply.)

Всевышний подчеркнул, что только Он распоряжается судьбой Своих творений. Бодрствуют они или спят, живут или умирают - Всемогущий Аллах делает с ними все, что пожелает. Он забирает души Своих рабов в момент смерти, то есть в момент расставания с мирской жизни. Это не противоречит тому, что душу умирающего человека извлекает из тела ангел смерти вместе со своими помощниками. И поэтому Аллах повелел Своему посланнику, да благословит его Аллах и приветствует, сказать: «Ангел смерти, которому вы поручены, умертвит вас, а затем вы будете возвращены к своему Господу» (32:11). В Коране также сказано: «Когда же к кому-нибудь из вас приходит смерть, Наши посланцы забирают его душу, и они не делают упущений» (6:61). Всевышний иногда приписывает те или иные деяния Себе, потому что именно Он - Единственный Творец и Правитель Вселенной, а иногда - Своим творениям, потому что божественная мудрость требует, чтобы у всего происходящего во Вселенной была причина. Затем Господь сообщил, что Он также забирает человеческие души во время сна. Это означает, что сон является малой смертью. Если человеку суждено умереть во сне, то Аллах не возвращает его душу в земной мир, а если ему суждено проснуться, то его душа возвращается в тело и продолжает наслаждаться жизнью до наступления определенного срока. Воистину, во всем этом - знамения для тех, кто размышляет. Стоит человеку призадуматься над ними, как ему станет ясно, что Всевышний Господь всемогущ и способен воскресить усопших после смерти. Из этих слов следует, что душа и тело являются разными субстанциями. Они существуют самостоятельно и имеют различную сущность. Душа также является творением Аллаха и находится в Его власти. Она не умирает и имеет возможность попасть в иной мир, где может встретиться с душами других людей и даже побеседовать с ними. Когда живые люди просыпаются, их души возвращаются в тела, а души мертвых людей лишены такой возможности. Далее Всевышний упрекнул многобожников, которые ищут заступников перед Ним, связывают с ними большие надежды и даже поклоняются им для того, чтобы заслужить их заступничество.

Commentary

The time to sleep and the time to die: How is the soul exacted and what is the difference between the two

In verse 42, it was said: اللَّـهُ يَتَوَفَّى الْأَنفُسَ حِينَ مَوْتِهَا وَالَّتِي لَمْ تَمُتْ فِي مَنَامِهَا (Allah fully takes away the souls [ of the people ] at the time of their death, and [ of ] those who do not die, in their sleep.). The word: تَوَفَّی (tawaffa) literally means to receive, to take back, exact. In this verse, Allah Ta’ ala has stated very clearly and emphatically that the spirits or souls (arwah) of living beings are under the free will and discretionary dispensation of Allah Ta’ ala at all times and under all conditions. He can seize, exact and take them back at will. And there is at least one manifestation of this absolutely autonomous dispensation that every living being sees and feels everyday when, once asleep, the ruh (spirit, soul) of a person is, so to say, taken away from the body, then, returned on rising from sleep, and ultimately, one such time is bound to come when this ruh stands seized, absolutely and conclusively, following which, this will never be returned.

According to Tafsir Mazhari, the sense of 'taking the ruh away' is to sever its connection with the human body. There are occasions when it is totally severed, both outwardly and inwardly. This is what death is. Then, there are occasions when it is severed only outwardly while it remains active inwardly, the effect of which is that it is only the sense and volitional movement - being obvious signs of life - that are severed, however, the connection of ruh with the body remains active inwardly. Under this arrangement, one breathes and stays alive, however, the form it takes is that the human spirit (ruh) is made to turn its attention to a (panoramic) study of the universe of images ('Alam-ul-mithal), and whereby it is made to pass into a state of forgetfulness and suspension away from this universe, so that one can become fully at rest. And then, at times, even this inward connection is severed because of which the life of the body goes extinct, totally.

In the verse cited above, the word: يَتَوَفَّى (yatawaffa) in the sense of 'takes in full' (qabd) is used by way of ` umum-ul- majaz which covers both meanings. This difference of ruh (spirit, soul) being taken away both in death and sleep delineated earlier also finds support in a saying of Sayyidna ` Ali ؓ . He said that, at the time of sleep, the ruh of a person goes away from his body, but a beam or ray of ruh stays behind in the body due to which one remains alive - and it is through this 'beamed' connection that one sees a dream. Then this dream, in the event that it has been seen in the state the attention of the ruh was raptly turned towards the universe of images, is a true dream. But, if it was seen in a state when the ruh was returning back to the body, then, it becomes polluted with Shaitanic inputs, and that dream no more remains a true dream. And he also said that the ruh that comes out of the body of a person during the state of sleep returns to the body when one wakes up within a time that is much less than an eye would take to wink.

Other English translations

Tafsīr · classical commentary

Allah is the One Who causes Death and gives Life