Surah An-Nazi'at, Ayah 14

The Tafsir of Surat An-Nazi`at (Chapter - 79) Which was revealed in Makkah

بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَـنِ الرَّحِيمِ

In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.

Swearing by Five Characteristics that the Day of Judgement will occur

Ibn Mas`ud, Ibn `Abbas, Masruq, Sa`id bin Jubayr, Abu Salih, Abu Ad-Duha and As-Suddi all said,

وَالنَّـزِعَـتِ غَرْقاً

(By those who pull out, drowning.) "These are the angels who remove the souls from the Children of Adam." Among them are those whose souls are removed by the angels with difficulty, as if he is being drowned during its removal. There are those people whose souls the angels remove with ease, as if they were unraveling him (i.e., his soul from him) due to their briskness. This is the meaning of Allah's statement,

The fifth quality of the angels:

فَالْمُدَبِّرَ‌اتِ أَمْرً‌ا (then manage [ to do ] everything [ they are ordered to do,]...79:5). In other words, the last task of these angels of death will be as follows: Those who are commanded to reward and comfort the deserving souls, will gather means of reward and comfort for them; and those who are commanded to punish and cause pain to [ the evil souls ] will organize means for that.

Reward and Punishment in the Grave

The Surah thus far confirms that at the time of death, the angels will arrive and extract human souls. Then they will take them to the sky and swiftly transport them to their abodes, the good souls to the good abode and the bad souls to the bad one. There they will organise means of reward or punishment and pain or comfort for them. The verses show that the reward and punishment will take place in the grave or barzakh. Thereafter the reward and punishment will be meted out on the Day of Judgment. Authentic Traditions give elaborate details of this. There is a lengthy Tradition of Sayyidna Bard' Ibn ` Azib cited in Mishkat-ul-Masabih with reference to Musnad of Ahmad.

Every year we experience periods of calm weather followed by gales bringing clouds and rainstorms. Soon it is clearly visible that where the land was desolate, a new world has sprung up. This event of nature indicates the possibility of the Hereafter. This shows in symbolic fashion that the emergence of the Hereafter from the present world is just as possible as the emergence of lush green foliage from dry barren land.