the wrongdoers are in the throes of death, and the angels stretch out their hands, saying, “Release your souls! Today you will be repaid with a humiliating punishment for what you used to say about Allah without right and for the pride you showed toward His signs” (al-Anʿām 6:93). The phrase “the throes of death” refers to the agonies of dying, while “the angels stretch out their hands” means they reach toward the dying unbeliever and command him, “Bring out your souls.” It is as though these people cling to their souls out of sheer miserliness, for—Allah’s protection is sought—they are being given tidings of torment; the soul therefore darts about the body, scattering, and its owner begrudges letting it go. Thus the angels repeat: “Release your souls—today you will be repaid with the torment of disgrace for what you used to say about Allah without right and for your arrogance toward His signs.” The word “today” here refers to the very day of their death, as the soul is being wrested from them.

Allah, Exalted is He, also says: “The Fire—morning and evening they are exposed to it; and on the Day the Hour is established, [it will be said], ‘Admit the people of Pharaoh to the most severe punishment’” (Ghāfir 40:46). He first declares that they are exposed to the Fire morning and evening—that is, before the Hour is set up—then adds: “and on the Day the Hour is established, admit the people of Pharaoh to the most severe punishment.”

We must realize that this bliss and this punishment are matters of the unseen; we do not perceive them with our senses. Had we been able to witness them, we would never bury our dead, for no one could hand over his deceased relative to a punishment whose screams he could hear—he would be horror-stricken. When the disbeliever or hypocrite fails to answer the angels’ questioning, he is struck with a murzabah—an iron club like a sledgehammer—and he lets out a cry heard by every creature except human beings. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said, “If a human being could hear it, he would collapse.”

He also said, “Were it not that you would stop burying one another, I would ask Allah to let you hear the torment of the grave.” Yet, by Allah’s mercy, we do not sense it directly; rather, we believe in it as part of the unseen and do not