Tafseer of The Prostration · As-Sajda · 32:11
Say, "The angel of death will take you who has been entrusted with you. Then to your Lord you will be returned."
Important: The Arabic source text is always authoritative. This translation is a study aid and has not been verified by scholars — do not use it as a basis for religious proof or for deriving rulings (ahkam). When in doubt, always consult the Arabic text and a qualified scholar.
The statement concerning the explanation of His saying, the Exalted: قُلْ يَتَوَفَّاكُمْ مَلَكُ الْمَوْتِ الَّذِي وُكِّلَ بِكُمْ ثُمَّ إِلَى رَبِّكُمْ تُرْجَعُونَ (11) (Say: the Angel of Death, who has been charged with you, will take you away; then to your Lord you will be returned) (32:11).
He, exalted is His mention, says: say, O Muḥammad, to these who associate partners with Allah (the mushrikīn): (the Angel of Death will take you away). He says: the Angel of Death, who is charged with taking away your souls, takes your number away completely by seizing your souls. And of this is the saying of the rajaz-poet:
Indeed, the tribe of al-Adram belongs to no one, and Quraysh does not count them in the number (7).
Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda: (Say: the Angel of Death, who has been charged with you, will take you away), he said: the Angel of Death takes you away, and with him are his helpers from among the angels.
Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr related to me, saying: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us, saying: ʿĪsā related to us; and al-Ḥārith related to me, saying: al-Ḥasan related to us, saying: Warqāʾ related to us — both on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, his saying: (The Angel of Death will take you away), he said: the earth is folded up for him and made for him like a washbasin, from which he seizes wherever he wishes.
Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Ḥakkām related to us, on the authority of ʿAnbasa, on the authority of Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān, on the authority of al-Qāsim ibn Abī Bazza, on the authority of Mujāhid, with something similar.
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Footnotes:
(7) The two verses are by Manẓūr al-Wabrī (al-Lisān: wfy). He said: "wa-tawaffaytu ʿadada al-qawmi" means: I counted them all up. Abū ʿUbayda recited from Manẓūr al-Wabrī (with sukūn on the bāʾ): * Indeed, the tribe of al-Adrad belongs to no one * ... the two verses. That is to say: Quraysh does not make them the completion of their number, and does not fully count their number with them. In the transmission of al-Lisān, "al-Adrad" stands in the place of "al-Adram," in accordance with the transmission of Abū ʿUbayda. Abū ʿUbayda did not explicitly mention the name of the poet Manẓūr al-Wabrī, and perhaps the author of al-Lisān saw a copy of Majāz al-Qurʾān in which the name of the poet was stated. The author of al-Tāj recited the verse (in: wfy) and said: "wa-tawaffaytu ʿadada al-qawmi" means: when I count them up for them. Abū ʿUbayda recited from Manẓūr al-ʿAnbarī: * Indeed, the tribe of al-Adrad belongs to no one *. And "al-Adrad" stands therein with the dāl as the last letter, not with the mīm, as in the copy of Majāz al-Qurʾān that is in our hands. And in (al-Lisān: wfy): Ibn Manẓūr cited the verse in accordance with the transmission of the author, and attributed it to Manẓūr al-Wabrī. End.
