Tafseer of The Cattle · Al-An'aam · 6:60
And it is He who takes your souls by night and knows what you have committed by day. Then He revives you therein that a specified term may be fulfilled. Then to Him will be your return; then He will inform you about what you used to do.
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 explanation of His word: وَهُوَ الَّذِي يَتَوَفَّاكُمْ بِاللَّيْلِ وَيَعْلَمُ مَا جَرَحْتُمْ بِالنَّهَارِ (And He it is who takes your souls by night and knows what you have acquired by day.)
Abū Jaʿfar said: The Exalted, whose remembrance is exalted, says to His Prophet ﷺ: And say to them, O Muḥammad — and Allāh knows best the wrongdoers — and Allāh it is who takes your souls by night and seizes them out of your bodies. وَيَعْلَمُ مَا جَرَحْتُمْ بِالنَّهَارِ ("and knows what you have acquired by day") — He says: and He knows what deeds you have performed by day.
The meaning of "al-tawaffī" (the taking away) in the language of the Arabs is: the completing of a number, as the poet said:
"Indeed, the sons of al-Adram belong to no one, and Quraysh does not count them in the number"
the meaning being: Quraysh has not included them in the number.
As for "al-ijtirāḥ" (the acquiring) among the Arabs: it is the work that a man performs with his hand, his foot, or his mouth, and these among them are "the acquiring limbs" (al-jawāriḥ), the limbs of the body, according to what has been transmitted concerning them. Then everyone who acquires something through an action is called an "acquirer" (jāriḥ), on account of the usage the Arabs make of this regarding these "limbs." Thereafter this became frequent in usage, until of everyone who acquires something — with whatever bodily part he has acquired it — it is said: "mujtariḥ" (acquirer).
And in accordance with what we have said about this, the exegetes have spoken.
Mention of who said that:
13309 — Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥusayn related to me, he said: Aḥmad ibn al-Mufaḍḍal related to us, he said: Asbāṭ related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī: وَهُوَ الَّذِي يَتَوَفَّاكُمْ بِاللَّيْلِ وَيَعْلَمُ مَا جَرَحْتُمْ بِالنَّهَارِ — as for "He takes your souls by night": that is in sleep; and as for "He knows what you have acquired by day": He says: what sin you have acquired.
13310 — Al-Muthannā related to me, he said: ʿAbd Allāh ibn Ṣāliḥ related to us, he said: Muʿāwiya ibn Ṣāliḥ related to me, on the authority of ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭalḥa, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās: وَهُوَ الَّذِي يَتَوَفَّاكُمْ بِاللَّيْلِ وَيَعْلَمُ مَا جَرَحْتُمْ بِالنَّهَارِ — that means: what sin you have acquired.
13311 — Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us, he said: Muḥammad ibn Thawr related to us, he said: Maʿmar related to us, on the authority of Qatāda: "what you have acquired by day," he said: what you have performed by day.
13312 — Al-Ḥasan ibn Yaḥyā related to us, he said: ʿAbd al-Razzāq informed us, he said: Maʿmar informed us, on the authority of Qatāda, the same.
13313 — Bišr ibn Muʿādh related to us, he said: Yazīd ibn Zurayʿ related to us, he said: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, his word: وَهُوَ الَّذِي يَتَوَفَّاكُمْ بِاللَّيْلِ — by it He means their sleep; وَيَعْلَمُ مَا جَرَحْتُمْ بِالنَّهَارِ — that is to say: whatever sin you have performed, He knows it; nothing of it remains hidden from Him.
13314 — Al-Muthannā related to us, he said: Abū Ḥudhayfa related to us, he said: Šibl related to us, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid: وَهُوَ الَّذِي يَتَوَفَّاكُمْ بِاللَّيْلِ وَيَعْلَمُ مَا جَرَحْتُمْ بِالنَّهَارِ, he said: as for His taking them away by night: that is their sleep; and as for "what you have acquired by day": He says: what you have acquired by day.
Abū Jaʿfar said: And this statement — although it is an announcement from Allāh, the Exalted, about His power and His knowledge — contains an argument against the polytheists (mushrikīn) who associated partners with Him, those who denied His power to bring them to life after their death and to raise them up after their decay. For the Exalted, whose remembrance is exalted, said, refuting them: وَهُوَ الَّذِي يَتَوَفَّاكُمْ بِاللَّيْلِ وَيَعْلَمُ مَا جَرَحْتُمْ بِالنَّهَارِ ثُمَّ يَبْعَثُكُمْ فِيهِ لِيُقْضَى أَجَلٌ مُسَمًّى (And He it is who takes your souls by night and knows what you have acquired by day, and then raises you up therein, that a fixed term may be completed). He says: He who seizes your souls by night and raises you up by day, that you may reach a fixed term — while you see that and know its truthfulness — is in no way denied the power to seize your souls and cause you to perish, and thereafter to return them to your bodies and create you anew after your death. For that is equal to what you perceive and witness with your own eyes, and He who has power over what you perceive is not denied power over what you do not perceive. And that which you have neither seen nor witnessed of this is equal to what you have seen and witnessed.
The explanation of His word: ثُمَّ يَبْعَثُكُمْ فِيهِ لِيُقْضَى أَجَلٌ مُسَمًّى ثُمَّ إِلَيْهِ مَرْجِعُكُمْ ثُمَّ يُنَبِّئُكُمْ بِمَا كُنْتُمْ تَعْمَلُونَ (6:60) (Then He raises you up therein, that a fixed term may be completed, then to Him is your return, then He informs you of what you used to do.)
Abū Jaʿfar said: The Exalted, whose remembrance is exalted, means: ثُمَّ يَبْعَثُكُمْ ("then He raises you up") — He raises you up and awakens you from your sleep; فِيهِ ("therein") — by it He means: by day, and the "hā" in "fīhi" refers back to "the day" (al-nahār); لِيُقْضَى أَجَلٌ مُسَمًّى ("that a fixed term may be completed") — He says: that Allāh may complete the term He has fixed for your life, and that is death, so that it reaches its span and its end; ثُمَّ إِلَيْهِ مَرْجِعُكُمْ ("then to Him is your return") — He says: then to Allāh is your return and your destination; ثُمَّ يُنَبِّئُكُمْ بِمَا كُنْتُمْ تَعْمَلُونَ ("then He informs you of what you used to do") — He says: then He informs you of what you performed in your worldly life, and thereafter He recompenses you for it: if it was good, then with good, and if it was evil, then with evil.
And in accordance with what we have said about this, the exegetes have spoken.
Mention of who said that:
13315 — Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr related to me, he said: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us, he said: ʿĪsā related to us, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid: ثُمَّ يَبْعَثُكُمْ فِيهِ ("then He raises you up therein"), he said: by day.
13316 — Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us, he said: Muḥammad ibn Thawr related to us, he said: Maʿmar related to us, on the authority of Qatāda: ثُمَّ يَبْعَثُكُمْ فِيهِ ("then He raises you up therein"), by day, and "the raising up" (al-baʿth) is the awakening.
13317 — Al-Ḥasan ibn Yaḥyā related to us, he said: ʿAbd al-Razzāq informed us, he said: Maʿmar informed us, on the authority of Qatāda, the same.
13318 — Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥusayn related to us, he said: Aḥmad ibn al-Mufaḍḍal related to us, he said: Asbāṭ related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī: ثُمَّ يَبْعَثُكُمْ فِيهِ ("then He raises you up therein"), he said: by day.
13319 — Al-Qāsim related to us, he said: al-Ḥusayn related to us, he said: Ḥajjāj related to me, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj, he said: ʿAbd Allāh ibn Kathīr said: ثُمَّ يَبْعَثُكُمْ فِيهِ ("then He raises you up therein"), he said: He raises you up from sleep.
لِيُقْضَى أَجَلٌ مُسَمًّى ("that a fixed term may be completed"), and that is death.
Mention of who said that:
13320 — Al-Muthannā related to me, he said: Abū Ḥudhayfa related to us, he said: Šibl related to us, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid: لِيُقْضَى أَجَلٌ مُسَمًّى ("that a fixed term may be completed"), and that is death.
13321 — Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥusayn related to us, he said: Aḥmad ibn Mufaḍḍal related to us, he said: Asbāṭ related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī: لِيُقْضَى أَجَلٌ مُسَمًّى ("that a fixed term may be completed"), he said: that is the term of life until death.
13322 — Al-Qāsim related to us, he said: al-Ḥusayn related to us, he said: Ḥajjāj related to me, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj, he said: ʿAbd Allāh ibn Kathīr said: لِيُقْضَى أَجَلٌ مُسَمًّى ("that a fixed term may be completed"), he said: their span.
