A011
Surah: 032 - Ayah: 011
Click here to see the translations
32:11
Angel of Death: Allah says in the Wise Qur'an, which is the treasure of His knowledge and wisdom: "Say (O Prophet): The angel of death who is given charge of you seizes your souls" (32:11). That is, when the time comes, in order to seize the soul Izra'il does not come from somewhere outside of man. There is always a personal Izra'il within him, namely, the Izra'ili power within every individual and it is through this power that the act of partial death (sleep, etc.) takes place. Thus from this wisdom-filled allusion of the Holy Qur'an we can be certain that there are four angelic powers simultaneously in man, which are: Jibra'ili, Mika'ili, Israfili and Izra'ili powers.
Questions: What is death? Where does it come from? And how many kinds of death are there?
Answers: Death is the name of the separation of the soul from the body by whatever means. Death is always with man, because the angel of death (Izrail) as a muakkal is always with him (32:11). Death can be divided into three major categories: physical, spiritual and intellectual, because death is related to creatures, who are in three ranks. Yet, the special relationship of death is with the body, and therefore, we call spiritual death that act of the soul in which, except for the head, it leaves the rest of the body repeatedly and makes it dead repeatedly. Intellectual death is forgetfulness, negligence, unconsciousness and ignorance of the living human being. As for physical death, it has already been mentioned that there are several sub- deaths. For further information on death see: The Great Wisdom of Death (Fruit of Paradise), Ibda-u Inbiath (Ganj-i Giran-mayah), Miscellaneous Questions (What is Soul?), Germs and the Power of Izra'il (Qur'anic Healing), Death before Death, Renewal of Similitudes (Healing through Knowledge), Izra'ili Wisdom, Allusions of the Renewal of Similitudes, Minor Resurrection (Spiritual Healing), Return to Allah (.Haqaiq-i Aliyah), etc.
Army and Chief of Angles
In addition to having understood many realities in what has been explained from the beginning until now, concerning the soul, we have also learnt the principle that there are numerous souls within a soul of every level. We would also like to know if angles too work in the same way under a chief angel?
A- Yes, this principle is also true of angles. There is a chief angel for every task and under that angle, there are many other angles who do that work with him, according to the Divine command. As it said about Hazrat Izrail: say (o Prophet): the angel of death (malakul mawt= Izrail), put in charge of you, will take your souls” (32:11), and about the angles under Hazrat Izrail, it is said: “Those whose lives the angles take in a state in which they are pure. They say: Peace be upon you” (16:32). This clearly shows that many subordinate angels work unde each of the Archangles: Jibrail, Mikail, Israfil and Izrail.
Although apparently Hazrat `Izra'il, may peace be upon him, is the name of a single angel, but in fact, he is a tremendous army. He is made mu'akkal (in charge, guardian) over mankind (32:11, 6:93), so that he may seize the soul during partial death, complete death, spiritual death, physical death and sleep, etc. It is not the case that the angel of death meets us only at the end of our lives, rather his being mu'akkal or wakil means that he is always with us. Day and night, he is occupied in his activities in the personal world, by which countless needs of man are fulfilled.
The wisdom-filled Qur'anic words are full of the allusions of wonderful meanings. Thus when Hazrat `Izra'il is mentioned in the Qur’an, it is said about him “He is made in charge of you” (32:11). That is, he is always with you. For the microcosm or the personal world is a complete world of its own, in which there is everything. Therefore, there is also the power of `Izra'il (quwwat-i `Izra'iliyyah), due to which man sleeps on time. Not only this, but after enough progress in spirituality, `Izra'il appears in the same power and a complete experience of the seizing of the soul is attained. By God! there is an extremely great treasure of the secrets of recognition in the stage of cIzrÀ'Äl. Thus this article, in fact the whole book, which is based on the allusions of Qur'anic wisdom, is like a successful medical advice, in acting upon which (God willing) there can be many benefits.
Act of `Izra'il: In verse (32:11) Hazrat `Izra'il, may peace be on him, is mentioned as follows: “Say: The angel of death who is given charge of you (wukkila bi-kum i.e. he is made guardian of you all the time) shall cause you to die.” In this act of Hazrat `Izra'il are included all kinds of death. Among these deaths, the Sufic death is worth mentioning, in which many great miracles of spirituality and ma`rifat appear together. At that time the manifestation of the angel of death takes place in the form of a Supreme Name, which is one of the Beautiful Names of God (al-asma'u'l- husna). This Supreme Name remains in the head and continues to repeat itself, and his army of spiritual particles permeates the cells of the entire body and starts to bring the soul out.
This verse has been referred 6 times.