Tafseer of Those who drag forth · An-Naazi'aat · 79:1
By those [angels] who extract with violence
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 the saying of the Exalted: وَالنَّازِعَاتِ غَرْقًا ("By those who pluck out violently") (79:1).
Our Lord, exalted is His majesty, swore an oath by "those who pluck out" (al-nāziʿāt). The exegetes (ahl al-taʾwīl) differed concerning who or what they are, and what it is that they pluck out. Some said: they are the angels who pluck out the souls of the children of men; and that which is plucked out is the souls of mankind.
* Mention of who said that:
Isḥāq ibn Abī Isrāʾīl related to us, saying: al-Naḍr ibn Shumayl related to us, saying: Shuʿba informed us, on the authority of Sulaymān, who said: I heard Abū al-Ḍuḥā, on the authority of Masrūq, on the authority of ʿAbd Allāh, concerning وَالنَّازِعَاتِ غَرْقًا , that he said: the angels.
Abū al-Sāʾib related to me, saying: Abū Muʿāwiya related to us, on the authority of al-Aʿmash, on the authority of Muslim, on the authority of Masrūq, that he used to say concerning al-nāziʿāt: they are the angels.
Ibn al-Muthannā related to us, saying: Yūsuf ibn Yaʿqūb related to us, saying: Shuʿba related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī, on the authority of Abū Ṣāliḥ, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning al-nāziʿāt, that he said: when his soul is plucked out.
Muḥammad ibn Saʿd related to me, saying: my father related to me, saying: my uncle related to me, saying: my father related to me, on the authority of his father, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning his saying: وَالنَّازِعَاتِ غَرْقًا , that he said: they pluck out the souls.
Abū Kurayb related to us, saying: Ibn Yamān related to us, on the authority of Ashʿath, on the authority of Jaʿfar, on the authority of Saʿīd, concerning his saying: وَالنَّازِعَاتِ غَرْقًا , that he said: their souls were plucked out, then they were drowned, then they were cast into the Fire.
And others said: rather it is death which plucks out the souls.
* Mention of who said that:
Abū Kurayb related to us, saying: Wakīʿ related to us, on the authority of Sufyān, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning وَالنَّازِعَاتِ غَرْقًا , that he said: death.
Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Mihrān related to us, on the authority of Sufyān, on the authority of ʿAbd Allāh ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, the like of it.
Ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Raḥmān related to us, saying: Sufyān related to us, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, the like of it.
And others said: they are the stars which move from one horizon to the other.
Al-Faḍl ibn Isḥāq related to us, saying: Abū Qutayba related to us, saying: Abū al-ʿAwwām related to us, that he heard al-Ḥasan concerning وَالنَّازِعَاتِ غَرْقًا , that he said: the stars.
Ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us, saying: Ibn Thawr related to us, on the authority of Maʿmar, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning his saying: وَالنَّازِعَاتِ غَرْقًا , that he said: the stars.
And others said: they are the bows which draw back the arrow.
* Mention of who said that:
Abū Kurayb related to us, saying: Wakīʿ related to us, on the authority of Wāṣil ibn al-Sāʾib, on the authority of ʿAṭāʾ, concerning وَالنَّازِعَاتِ غَرْقًا , that he said: the bows.
And others said: it is the soul at the moment when it is plucked out.
* Mention of who said that:
Abū Kurayb related to us, saying: Wakīʿ related to us, on the authority of Sufyān, on the authority of al-Suddī, concerning وَالنَّازِعَاتِ غَرْقًا , that he said: the soul when it sinks down into the breast.
And the correct view concerning this, in my opinion, is to say: Allah, exalted is His mention, swore an oath by "those who pluck out violently" (al-nāziʿāt gharqan), and He did not single out any particular plucker to the exclusion of another. So everything that plucks out violently falls under His oath, whether that be an angel, or death, or a star, or a bow, or something else. And the meaning is: by those who draw violently, as the one who draws the bow exerts force in it.
