they sense the soul being drawn from a person’s body and emerging from each of his limbs. The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, likewise described this in the well-known, lengthy hadith of al-Barā’ ibn ‘Āzib, saying:

“Then the Angel of Death comes and sits at his head, saying, ‘O good soul, come out to forgiveness from Allah and His good pleasure.’” He said: “It then emerges, flowing like a drop from the mouth of a waterskin, and he takes it. Once he has taken it, they do not leave it in his hand for even the blink of an eye, but take it and place it in that shroud with that burial perfume”—meaning those brought by the angels from Paradise—and so on to the end of the hadith, whose wording has already been quoted.

Concerning the disbeliever, he said:

“The Angel of Death comes and sits at his head, saying, ‘O wicked soul, come out to Allah’s displeasure and wrath.’ It then disperses throughout all his limbs, and he tears it out as a skewer is pulled from wet wool, tearing the veins and sinews with it.”

The hadith has already been cited in full, with all its contents. It explicitly describes the soul entering and leaving, ascending and descending, and being taken