the souls of the believers—may Allah make me and you among them—when the angels descend to take them, they give each soul glad tidings: “Come forth, O good soul that dwelt in a good body! Come forth to Allah’s pleasure.” This makes it easy for the soul to leave the body to which it had grown accustomed, and it emerges with ease. (1) Hence, when the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said, “Whoever loves to meet Allah, Allah loves to meet him; and whoever dislikes meeting Allah, Allah dislikes meeting him,” Aisha said, “O Messenger of Allah, we certainly dislike death.” He replied, “That is not what is meant. Rather, when death approaches a believer, he is given glad tidings of Allah’s pleasure and honor. Nothing is then dearer to him than what lies ahead, so he loves to meet Allah, and Allah loves to meet him.” (2)
At that moment, he realizes that he is about to move to an abode better than the one he is leaving. He rejoices just as any one of us would rejoice if told, “Leave this mud-brick house for a reinforced-concrete home—a fine, splendid palace.” He therefore rejoices and loves to meet Allah. The disbeliever—Allah protect us—is the opposite: when he is given tidings of wrath and punishment, he dislikes dying and meeting Allah, so Allah dislikes meeting him.
“And those who glide swiftly” refers to the angels. They glide swiftly in carrying out Allah’s command—that is, they hasten to fulfill it just as a swimmer moves swiftly through water. Allah says of the sun, the moon, the night, and the day, “Each travels in an orbit.” [Yā-Sīn: 40] The meaning, then, is that they glide swiftly at the command of Allah, Mighty and Majestic, exactly as Allah, Glorified and Exalted, wills. They—that is, the angels—are stronger than the jinn, and the jinn are stronger than human beings. Consider what Allah says concerning Solomon: “O chiefs! Which of you can bring me her throne before they come to me in submission?” A formidable jinn said, “I will bring it to you before you rise from your place, and I am truly strong and trustworthy for this task.” The one who possessed knowledge of the Scripture said, “I will bring it to you—