Sura 6, al-Anam [cattle], Mecca 55

The Quranic text and Ali’s version

وَهُوَ الَّذِي يَتَوَفَّاكُم بِاللَّيْلِ وَيَعْلَمُ مَا جَرَحْتُم بِالنَّهَارِ...

6:60. It is He Who doth take your souls by night, and hath knowledge of all that ye have done by day.

...ثُمَّ يَبْعَثُكُمْ فِيهِ لِيُقْضَى أَجَلٌ مُّسَمًّى...

By day doth He raise you up again; that a term appointed be fulfilled;

...ثُمَّ إِلَيْهِ مَرْجِعُكُمْ ثُمَّ يُنَبِّئُكُم بِمَا كُنتُمْ تَعْمَلُونَ ﴿٦٠﴾

in the end unto Him will be your return, then will He show you the truth of all that ye did.

وَهُوَ الْقَاهِرُ فَوْقَ عِبَادِهِ ...

61. He is the Irresistible, (watching) from above over his worshippers,

... وَيُرْسِلُ عَلَيْكُم حَفَظَةً...

and He sets guardians over you.

...حَتَّىَ إِذَا جَاء أَحَدَكُمُ الْمَوْتُ تَوَفَّتْهُ رُسُلُنَا...

At length, when death approaches one of you, Our angels take his soul,

...وَهُمْ لاَ يُفَرِّطُونَ ﴿٦١﴾

and they never fail in their duty.

ثُمَّ رُدُّواْ إِلَى اللّهِ مَوْلاَهُمُ الْحَقِّ أَلاَ لَهُ الْحُكْمُ ...

62. Then are men returned unto Allah, their True Protector, the (only) reality: Surely His is the Command?

... وَهُوَ أَسْرَعُ الْحَاسِبِينَ ﴿٦٢﴾

And He is the swiftest in taking account.

Transliteration

Wa huwal lazi yatawaffa_kum bil laili wa ya'lamu ma_ jarahtum bin naha_ri summa yab'asukum fihi liyuqda_ ajalum musamma_(n), summa ilaihi marji'ukum summa yunabbi'ukum bima_ kuntum ta'malu_n(a).

Asad’s version

6:60 And He it is who causes you to be [like] dead [note 50] at night, and knows what you work in daytime; and He brings you back to life each day [note 51] in order that a term set [by Him] be fulfilled. In the end, unto Him you must return; and then He will make you understand all that you were doing [in life].

6: 61 And He alone holds sway over His servants. And He sends forth heavenly forces to watch over you [note 52] until, when death approaches any of you, Our messengers cause him to die: and they do not over look [anyone].

6: 62 And they [who have died] are thereupon brought before God, their true Lord Supreme. Oh, verily, His alone is all judgment: and He is the swiftest of all reckoners!

Pickthall’s version

6:60 He it is Who gathereth you at night and knoweth that which ye commit by day. Then He raiseth you again to life therein, that the term appointed (for you) may be accomplished. And afterward unto Him is your return. Then He will proclaim unto you what ye used to do.

6:61 He is the Omnipotent over His slaves. He send guardians over you until, when death comes unto one of you, Our messengers receive him, and they neglect not.

6:62 Then are they restored unto Allah, their Lord, the Just. Surely His is the judgment. And He is the most swift of reckoners.

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[ Asad’s note 50 – For a full explanation of the verb ‘tawaffa’ – lit., “he took [something] in full” – see note 44 on 39:42, which is the earliest instance of its use in the Quran.

note 51 – Lit., “therein” – referring to the daytime. The polarity of sleep and wakefulness contains an allusion to life and death (cf. 78:9 – 11).

Asad’s note 52 –Lit., “sends forth guardians over you”. ]

[[ Ali’s note - 881 As the rest of His Creation is subject to His Law and Plan, so is man's life in every particular and at every moment, awake or asleep. The mystery of Sleep-" the twin brother of death" - is called the taking of our soul by Him, with the record of all we have done in our waking moments, and this record sometimes appears to us in confused glimpses in dreams. By day we awaken again to our activities, and so it goes on until we fulfill the term of our life appointed for this earth. Then comes the other Sleep (death), with the longer record of our Day (Life); and then, in the end comes the Resurrection and Judgment, at which we see everything clearly and not as in dreams, for that is the final Reality. (6.60)

882 Guardians: most commentators understand this to mean guardian angels. The idea of guardianship is expressed in a general term. God watches over us and guards us, and provides all kinds of agencies, material, moral, and spiritual, to help our growth and development, keep us from harm, and bring us nearer to our Destiny. (6.61)

883 Angel: the word used is rusul, the Sent Ones, -the same word as for human Apostles and Messengers sent by God to teach mankind. The agents who come to take our souls at death are accurate in the performance of their duty. They come neither before nor after their appointed time, nor do they do it in any manner other than that fixed by the Command of God. (6.61)

884 The only Reality: al-haqq, the Truth, the only True One. The point is that our illusions of the life of this lower world now vanish, when we are rendered back to God, from Whom we came. And now we find that so far from the results of our actions being delayed, they follow more swiftly than we can express in terms of Time. Here is the answer to the taunt of those who were impatient of the working of God's Plans (vi. 57-58). (6.62) ]