the souls that have not died during their sleep. The soul taken during sleep is the one by which a person possesses reason and discernment. Every human being has two souls: one is the life-soul, which departs from him at death, and with its departure life departs; the other is the soul of discernment, which departs from him when he sleeps, while after sleeping he continues to breathe. “Then He retains those for whom He has decreed death”: He does not return them to the body.
Hamzah and al-Kisa’i recited qudiya, with the qaf vowelled with dammah, the dad with kasrah, and the ya with fathah, and recited “death” in the nominative, in the passive construction, with the agent left unmentioned. The others recited it with the qaf and dad vowelled with fathah, and “death” in the accusative, in accordance with His saying, Exalted is He: “Allah takes the souls.” “And He releases the others”: He returns to the body the other soul—the one for whom He has not decreed death—“until an appointed term,” that is, until the time of its death comes.
It is also said that a human being has a soul and a spirit: when he sleeps, the soul departs while the spirit remains. It is narrated from Ali that he said: “The spirit departs at sleep, but its radiance remains in the body, and by it he sees dreams. When he awakens from sleep, the spirit returns to his body more swiftly than the blink of an eye.” It is also said that the spirits of the living and the dead meet in sleep and recognize one another as Allah wills. Then, when they wish to return to their bodies, Allah retains with Him the spirits of the dead and releases the spirits of the living, until they return to their bodies, until the end of their lifespans.
Abd al-Wahid al-Mulayhi informed us; Ahmad ibn Abd Allah al-Na’imi informed us; Muhammad ibn Yusuf informed us; Muhammad ibn Isma’il narrated to us; Ahmad ibn Yunus narrated to us; Zuhayr narrated to us; Abd Allah ibn Umar narrated to me; Sa’id ibn Abi Sa’id al-Maqburi narrated to me from his father, from Abu Hurayrah, who said: The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said: “When one of you goes to his bed, let him shake out his bed with the inner side of his lower garment, for he does not know what may have come upon it after he left it. Then let him say: ‘In Your name, my Lord, I lay down my side, and by Your permission I raise it. If You take my soul, then have mercy upon it; and if You release it, then safeguard it as You safeguard Your righteous servants.’” (1)
“Surely in this are signs for a people who reflect”: that is, indications of His power, in that He does not err in retaining whichever spirits He retains and releasing whichever of them He releases.
Muqatil said: They are signs for a people who reflect upon the matter of resurrection. That is, the taking of the sleeping person’s soul and its release after it has been taken are evidence for the resurrection.