“If only you could see when the criminals will hang their heads before their Lord, saying, ‘Our Lord, we have seen and heard; so send us back, and we will do righteous deeds. Indeed, we are now certain.’” (12)

“Say, ‘The Angel of Death will take your souls’”—that is, he will seize your souls—“who has been assigned to you,” meaning assigned to take your souls. He is Azrael. Taking souls in full means completing the full number: he takes their souls until none remains of those whose death has been decreed.

It is related that the world was made for the Angel of Death like the palm of a hand, from which its owner may take whatever he wishes without difficulty. Thus, he takes the souls of created beings in the eastern and western regions of the earth, and he has assistants from among the angels of mercy and the angels of punishment (1). Ibn Abbas said: “The stride of the Angel of Death extends from east to west” (2). Mujahid said: “The earth was made for him like a basin, from which he takes whatever he wishes” (3). Some reports state that the Angel of Death is upon a ladder between heaven and earth, while his assistants draw out a person’s soul; when it reaches the hollow at the base of his throat, the Angel of Death takes it.

Khalid ibn Madan narrated from Muadh ibn Jabal, who said: “The Angel of Death has a spear extending from east to west, and he examines people’s faces. There is no household whose members the Angel of Death does not examine twice each day. When he sees a person whose appointed term has come to an end, he strikes his head with that spear and says, ‘Now the host of the dead will receive a visitor in you.’”

His saying, “Then you will be returned to your Lord,” means: you will return to Him alive, and He will recompense you for your deeds. “If only you could see when the criminals”—that is, the polytheists—“will hang their heads,” meaning, lower their heads, “before their Lord,” out of shame and regret. “Our Lord”—that is, they will say, “Our Lord, we have seen” what we used to deny, “and heard” from You confirmation of what Your messengers brought to us. It is also said that it means: We have seen our sins and heard what has been said concerning us. “So send us back,” meaning, return us to the world, “and we will do righteous deeds. Indeed, we are now certain.” The response to “if only” is omitted; its meaning is: You would have seen a wondrous sight.