A042
Surah: 039 - Ayah: 042
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39:42
The verse (39:42) shows that the state of sleep is a kind of death and hence sleep is called the sister of death. This means that as there is a total scrutiny of man's deeds after his death, a partial scrutiny of his deeds takes place in his dreams. In the former, the reward or punishment for good or bad deeds is given permanently, and in the latter it is given temporarily, so that the wise people may, through this example, have certainty about death, the last day, Paradise and Hell.
Sleep: In connection with attaining spirituality, the study of sleep is very necessary. If sleep is not controlled, it can become the greatest obstacle in the path to attain spirituality. In order to overcome this obstacle, it is necessary to study its nature meticulously.
When the spiritual science of sleep is understood, you will be assured that the sleep of a believing servant miraculously becomes less and less and it is also possible that it may be transformed from density into subtlety. According to the Qur'an (39:42) the purpose of sleep is to seize the soul, which has become worn out during the day from work, grief and worry and replace it with a fresh soul. This requires only a short time. But if a mu 'min sleeps for a long time then this fresh soul also leaves and is replaced by a negligent and lazy soul. This fact can be experienced by those mu mins who do much 'ibadat. But those whose souls are always neglectful are not aware of which soul leaves and which takes its place.
Exchange of Soul
Q. 25. According to what you say, the same one soul, for instance the human or rational soul, is a compendium of innumerable souls. If so, tell us: Do all these souls during one’s entire life, remain captive and imprisoned in the human body, or is there an exchange of souls and do they come and go?
A. There is no doubt that under the name of the same one soul, innumerable souls dwell in the human body. However, on various occasions, there is an exchange in them and they come and go, in such a way that, except for the people of spirituality, nobody knows about this. For instance, during sleep, some souls leave the body and some new souls enter it (39:42).
From the wisdom-filled verse (39:42), it appears that spiritual death, physical death and sleep are, all three, alike in many respects. For, the soul is seized in all three states. Nonetheless, after spiritual or physical death, each individual is given a complete book related to his deeds. However, for those who are alive, only a part of his record of deeds is given daily to each of them, in sleep as an example, which is dream. So that every time he should necessarily rectify and make it better, lest, on the Day of Resurrection, he regret that he did not cure his diseases, when he had been aware of the basic diseases of his soul (batin).
The work of Hazrat `Izra'il is extremely miraculous and full of wisdom. He seizes the soul on five occasions:
(1) As a result of successful `ibadat and dhikr of God in the heart of a mu'min, his soul is partially seized in the sense that some worn-out particles of the soul are expelled and some fresh particles are brought in.
(2) The same event takes place when a mu'min sheds tears, implores and prays in the court of the Lord of Honour due to a calamity, hardship or sickness.
(3) It happens during the state of sleep. That is, during sleep the exchange of the particles of soul, or seizing of soul, takes place repeatedly. Therefore, in order to attain good soul, it is necessary to wake up on time, lest it goes away in this exchange (39:42).
(4) When a darwish-like mu'min, in his spiritual progress, enters the station of the death causing resurrection, he experiences a complete spiritual death (3:143).
(5) When the time of the external and physical death comes, the soul is seized finally and completely.
See verse (39:42), in which you can clearly see that the seizing of soul, during the death and sleep of man, is mentioned. Who does this? It is Hazrat `Izra'il who does this by the command of God. Thus the wisdom-filled allusion of this verse is that in all diseases, we must remember God abundantly, with the sincerity of intention and perfect certainty that Hazrat `Izra'il, by causing the state of sleep, will seize the soul of disease or alleviate it. Similarly, he also pulls out the grief and anger of mu'mins in the state of sleep, provided they are in the habit of constant dhikr.
Hazrat Izra'il is not only the angel of death, but is also the angel in charge of sleep (39:42). Similarly, Hazrat Israfil, who is the custodian of the sur (sahib-i sur), is also appointed to wake people up, both today and tomorrow (36:52). Thus the greatest bliss of a person is in piety and abundant remembrance of God, so that the angels may make him sleep on time and wake him up on time, with high hopes concerning religion and the world. For without knowledge and good deeds, the friendship and support of angels cannot be obtained.
Here the question arises: What is the purpose of sleep? Namely, why is it so necessary, and what are its benefits? This question apparently seems to be quite easy, as some may instantly say that the mental and physical fatigue is removed by sleep and what is eaten becomes properly digested. But we will say that every kind of fatigue can also be removed without sleep and food can also be digested during the day without sleeping. For instance, take domestic animals such as the ox, the horse, the mule and the donkey; how much work do these poor animals do, yet they do not sleep. They only need to rest after work. Thus I would like to say that the main purpose of sleep is the exchange of some particles of soul (39:42) which can take place even during a short sleep.
One of the easiest examples of how God, the Omnipotent revives the dead, is that He seizes the soul of each one of us during sleep and then by sending it back gives us life (39:42), which we customarily call wakefulness. Similarly, a true sufi, or darwish, or a true lover, being effaced and enraptured in Divine remembrance, also becomes annihilated for a while, just as someone who is possessed by a jinn or fairy loses his “I” partially or totally, as if he had died temporarily, and when the jinn leaves him he becomes alive again.
Allahu yatawaffa (God takes (the souls))
God says: “God takes the souls at the time of their death, and that which has not yet died, in its sleep." (39:42). Man is a complete universe in which there are innumerable vegetative, animal and rational souls, which constantly undergo the process of partial death and resurrection.
Q101 This truly amazing and revolutionary question is with reference to the wisdom-filled verse (39:42), according to which every time man sleeps his soul is seized and every time he wakes up, it is revived. In such a case, where man’s life consists of sections of life and sections of death, why does he say “I am alive” and “this is my life”? If it is absolutely correct to say so and it is in accordance with the law of nature, then can we say that our partial life (this life) is an example and proof of our universal life, in which surely there are intervals, but longer ones?
A101 Well done! This is not only a revolutionary question, but it is also a unique answer. Now, (God willing) by this great universal law we will be able to solve other questions too. For instance, man’s sempiternal life is always in paradise, although for the sake of “the renewal of action (tajdid-i camal)”, he also comes out of it and passes through all stages/routes and forgets his universal life. There is a great wisdom hidden in this.
This verse has been referred 14 times.