Tafseer of The Groups · Az-Zumar · 39:42
Allah 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.
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 discourse on the explanation of His statement, the Exalted: Allāhu yatawaffā al-anfusa ḥīna mawtihā wa-allatī lam tamut fī manāmihā fa-yumsiku allatī qaḍā ʿalayhā al-mawta wa-yursilu al-ukhrā ilā ajalin musamman inna fī dhālika la-āyātin li-qawmin yatafakkarūn ("Allah takes the souls at the time of their death, and those that do not die, in their sleep; and He retains those for which He has decreed death, and sends back the others until an appointed term. Indeed, in that are signs for a people who reflect") (42).
The Exalted, whose praise is worthy of remembrance, says: and among the proofs that divinity belongs exclusively to Allah, the One, the Overpowering, to the exclusion of all else, is that He causes death and gives life, and does what He wills, and that nothing besides Him is capable of that. Thus He made that an announcement by which He pointed them to the greatness of His power, and He said: Allāhu yatawaffā al-anfusa ḥīna mawtihā ("Allah takes the souls at the time of their death") — thus He seizes them at the expiration of their term and the running out of the duration of their life, and He also takes those which have not died, in their sleep, just as those which have died at their death. Fa-yumsiku allatī qaḍā ʿalayhā al-mawt ("and He retains those for which He has decreed death") — it has been mentioned that the souls of the living and the dead meet one another in sleep, and they become acquainted with one another to the extent that Allah wills; then when they all wish to return to their bodies, Allah retains the souls of the dead with Himself and holds them captive, and sends back the souls of the living so that they return to their bodies, until an appointed term, and that is until the running out of the duration of their life.
And in accordance with what we have said concerning this, the people of interpretation (ahl al-taʾwīl) have spoken.
* Mention of who said that:
Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Yaʿqūb related to us, on the authority of Jaʿfar, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn Jubayr, concerning his statement: Allāhu yatawaffā al-anfusa ḥīna mawtihā ("Allah takes the souls at the time of their death") ... the āya. He said: He brings together the souls of the living and the souls of the dead, and they become acquainted with one another to the extent that Allah wills that they become acquainted; then He retains those for which He has decreed death, and sends back the others to their bodies.
Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Aḥmad ibn al-Mufaḍḍal related to us, saying: Asbāṭ related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī, concerning his statement: Allāhu yatawaffā al-anfusa ḥīna mawtihā ("Allah takes the souls at the time of their death") — he said: the souls are taken at the sleeping of the sleeper; thus his soul is taken in his sleep, and the souls meet one another: the souls of the dead and the souls of the sleeping; they meet one another and question one another. He said: then the souls of the living are released, so that they return to their bodies, and the other one also wishes to return, but He retains that for which death has been decreed, and sends back the other until an appointed term. He said: until the remainder of their terms.
Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Ibn Zayd said concerning his statement: Allāhu yatawaffā al-anfusa ḥīna mawtihā wa-allatī lam tamut fī manāmihā ("Allah takes the souls at the time of their death, and those that do not die, in their sleep") — he said: sleep is a form of death (wafāt). Fa-yumsiku allatī qaḍā ʿalayhā al-mawta wa-yursilu al-ukhrā ("and He retains those for which He has decreed death, and sends back the others") — those which He has not taken — ilā ajalin musamman ("until an appointed term").
And His statement: Inna fī dhālika la-āyātin li-qawmin yatafakkarūn ("Indeed, in that are signs for a people who reflect") — the Exalted, whose praise is worthy of remembrance, says: indeed, in Allah's taking of the soul of the sleeper and the dead, and His sending back thereafter the soul of this one, which returns to its body, and His retaining the other away from its body, there is a lesson and an admonition for whoever reflects and considers, and a clarification for him that Allah gives life to whom He wills of His creatures when He wills, and causes to die whom He wills when He wills.
