Tafseer Ibn Kathir of AL AN'AAM [60]

60. 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 what you used to do. 61. He is the Qahir over His servants, and He sends guardians over you, until when death approaches one of you, Our messengers take his soul, and they never neglect their duty. 62. Then they are returned to Allah, their Master, the Just Lord. Surely, His is the judgment and He is the swiftest in taking account. Allah states that He brings death to His servants in their sleep at night, for sleep is minor death. Allah said in other Ayat,

(And (remember) when Allah said: ”O `Isa! I will take you and raise you to Myself...'') ﴿3:55﴾, and,

(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.)ï´¿39:42ï´¾, ,thus mentioning both minor and major death. Allah says,

(It is He, Who takes your souls by night (when you are asleep), and has knowledge of all that you have done by day,) meaning, He knows the deeds and actions that you perform during the day. This Ayah demonstrates Allah's perfect knowledge of His creation, by day and night, and in their movements and idleness. Allah said in other Ayat,

(It is the same (to Him) whether any of you conceal his speech or declare it openly, whether he be hid by night or go forth freely by day.) ï´¿13:10ï´¾, and

(It is out of His mercy that He made night and day, so that you may rest therein), by night,

(and that you may seek of His bounty) by day. Allah said,

(And (We) have made the night as a covering. And (We) have made the day for livelihood.) ï´¿78:10-11ï´¾. Allah said here,

(It is He, Who takes your souls by night (when you are asleep), and has knowledge of all that you have done by day,) ï´¿6:60ï´¾, Then said,

(then he raises (wakes) you up again,) by day, according to Mujahid, Qatadah and As-Suddi. Allah's statement,

(that a term appointed be fulfilled) refers to the life span of every person,

(then (in the end), unto Him will be your return.) on the Day of Resurrection,

(Then He will inform you of what you used to do.) He will reward you, good for good, and evil for evil. Allah's statement,

(He is the Qahir over His servants.) The Qahir means, the one who controls everything, all are subservient to His supreme grace, greatness and majesty,

(and He sends guardians over you,) angels who guard mankind. In another Ayah, Allah said;

(For each (person), there are angels in succession, before and behind him. They guard him by the command of Allah.) ï´¿13:11ï´¾, watching his deeds and recording them. Allah said,

(But verily, over you (are appointed angels in charge of mankind) to watch you.) ï´¿82:10ï´¾, and,

((Remember!) that the two receivers (recording angels) receive, one sitting on the right and one on the left. Not a word does he utter, but there is a watcher by him, ready.) ï´¿50:17-18ï´¾. Allah's statement,

(until when death approaches one of you...) refers to, when one's life span comes to an end and he is dying,

(Our messengers take his soul...) meaning, there are angels who are responsible for this job. Ibn `Abbas and several others said that the Angel of Death has angels who pull the soul from its body and when it reaches the throat, the Angel of Death captures it. Allah said;

(and they never neglect their duty.) They guard the soul of the dead person and take it to wherever Allah wills, to `Illiyyin if he was among the righteous, and to Sijjin if he was among the wicked (disbelievers, sinners, etc.), we seek refuge with Allah from this end. Allah said next,

(Then they are returned to Allah, their Master, the Just Lord.) Imam Ahmad recorded that Abu Hurayrah said that the Prophet said,

(The angels attend the dying person. If he is a righteous person, the angels will say, `O pure soul from a pure body! Come out with honor and receive the good news of rest, satisfaction and a Lord Who is not angry.' The angels will keep saying this until the soul leaves its body, and they will then raise it up to heaven and will ask that the door be opened for the soul and it will be asked, `Who is this' It will be said, `(The soul of) so-and-so.' It will be said, `Welcome, to the pure soul that inhabited the pure body. Enter with honor and receive the good news of rest, satisfaction and a Lord Who is not angry.' This statement will be repeated until the soul reaches the heaven above which there is Allah. If the dying person is evil, the angels will say, `Get out (of your body), O wicked soul from a wicked body! Get out in disgrace and receive the news of boiling fluid, a fluid dark, murky, intensely cold and other (torments) of similar kind - all together - to match them.' This statement will be said repeatedly until the evil soul leaves its body. The soul will be raised up to heaven and a request will be made that the door be opened for it. It will be asked, `Who is this' It will be said, `(The soul of) so and so.' It will be said, `No welcome to the wicked soul from the wicked body. Return with disgrace, for the doors of heaven will not be opened for you.' So it will be thrown from heaven until it returns to the grave. So the righteous person sits and similar is said to him as before. And the evil person sits and similar is said to him as before.) It is also possible that the meaning of,

(Then they are returned...) refers to the return of all creation to Allah on the Day of Resurrection, when He will subject them to His just decision. Allah said in other Ayat,

(Say: ”(Yes) verily, those of old, and those of later times. All will surely be gathered together for an appointed meeting of a known Day.'') ﴿56:49-50﴾ and,

(And We shall gather them all together so as to leave not one of them behind...) ï´¿18:47ï´¾ until,

(And your Lord treats no one with injustice.) ï´¿18:49ï´¾ Allah said here,

(their Master, the Just Lord. Surely, His is the judgement and He is the swiftest in taking account.) ï´¿6:62ï´¾