Tafsir of Al-An'am 6:61

(And He is the Subduer over His servants): None of them can frustrate Him, nor can anyone interpose between Him—Glorified be He—and what He wills concerning them. "Over" (fawqa) is in the accusative case, signifying position; it may be an adverbial state or a predicate following a predicate. The discussion regarding the scholars' views on this verse has already been presented extensively.

(And He sends over you guardian angels): These are from the angels, and they are the Honorable Scribes mentioned in His saying: "And indeed, [appointed] over you are keepers, honorable and recording." Or they are the successive ones (al-mu‘aqqibat) mentioned in His saying: "For him are successive [angels] before and behind him, protecting him by the command of Allah." It has been said that the meaning includes both categories, and what is being guarded refers to deeds, souls, or the most general meaning. According to Qatadah, they guard one’s deeds, provision, and appointed time of death.

The opinion held by the majority of exegetes is the first one concerning the "guardians." According to some, they record all acts of obedience, disobedience, and permissible deeds, as implied by: "What is the matter with this book that leaves nothing small or great except that it has enumerated it?" In the traditions, the "small" is interpreted as a smile, and the "great" as laughter. And: "He does not utter a word except that there is an observer with him ready [to record]." Others say they do not record permissible deeds because no consequence is attached to them.

It is reported from Ibn Abbas—may Allah be pleased with both of them—that with every human being are two angels, one on his right and one on his left. When the person speaks a good word, the one on the right records it; when he speaks a bad word, the one on the right says to the one on the left, "Wait, perhaps he will repent." If he does not repent, it is recorded against him. The well-known view is that they are on the shoulders; it is also said they are on the chin, or in the mouth—one on the right and one on the left. The obligation is to believe in them without specifying their exact location or investigating the manner of their recording. The apparent meanings of the verses indicate that these guardians have access to words and deeds, such as His saying: "He does not utter a word..." and His saying: "They know what you do." As for the states of the heart, such as faith or disbelief, there is nothing in the outward text to indicate their access to them. Some reports suggest access, like the tradition: "If a servant intends a good deed but does not perform it, it is recorded for him as a good deed," for the intention is an action of the heart, like faith or disbelief. Others suggest a lack of access, such as the tradition: "On the Day of Resurrection, deeds will be brought in sealed scrolls, and Allah will say: 'Accept this and reject that.' The angels will say, 'By Your Might, we recorded only what was done.' Allah will say, 'His action was for other than Me, and today I accept only what was for My Face.'" In a report transmitted by Ibn al-Mubarak, it states that the angels raise the deeds of a servant, considering them abundant and purifying them, until they reach where Allah wills in His dominion. Then Allah reveals to them: "You are the guardians of My servant’s deed, but I am the Observer of what is in his soul. This servant of Mine was not sincere in his deed, so place it in Sijjin." The one who says they record only outward deeds says the meaning of "recorded" in the hadith about intending a good deed means "it was established and confirmed with Us," not that it was recorded in the angels' scrolls.

The one who says they record the deeds of the heart says that hypocrisy is an exception; they record the deed but Allah conceals it from them, so that He—Glorified be He—may invalidate the hypocrite's work after it has been recorded, either in the Hereafter or in the world, as an increase in his punishment and the disgrace of his state. Perhaps this is similar to what is done to him on the Day of Resurrection when he is turned back to the Fire after being brought near to Paradise. Abu Nu‘aym, al-Bayhaqi, Ibn ‘Asakir, and Ibn al-Najjar narrated that people will be ordered toward Paradise, and when they draw near, smell its scent, and behold its palaces and what Allah has prepared for its people, they will be called out to be turned away from it, for they have no share in it. They will return with regret such as the first ones have never known, and others will return with similar regret, saying: "Our Lord, if You had cast us into the Fire before showing us what You have shown us of Your reward and what You have prepared therein for Your allies, it would have been easier for us." He will say: "That is what I intended for you, O wretches. When you were alone, you confronted Me with great sins, but when you met people, you met them humble, showing off with your deeds, contrary to what you gave Me from your hearts. You feared people and did not fear Me; you honored people and did not honor Me; you abandoned things for people and did not purify yourselves for Me. Today, I will make you taste the punishment for having been deprived of the reward." Every opinion is possible with Me; there is no certainty, so reflect.

They disagreed on whether the guardians are replaced every day and night. It is said they are replaced, and the angels of the night are different from the angels of the day until death. It is said the angels of the night depart, then the angels of the day arrive, and when night comes, they depart and the first angels return, and so on. It is also said that the angels of good deeds are replaced, while the angels of bad deeds are not—which is what a good opinion of Allah suggests. They differed on their abode after the death of the accountable person: some say they return absolutely to their places of worship in the sky; others say they remain at the grave of the believer, seeking forgiveness for him until he rises from his grave. Many have confirmed that the recorder of good deeds is not limited to one, based on the tradition: "I saw such and such rushing to write it first." The wisdom behind these guardians is that when the accountable person knows his deeds are recorded and presented before all witnesses, it is a greater deterrent for him from committing sins and indecencies, especially if he relies on his Master’s kindness and trusts in His covering and pardon, for he would not be as cautious of Him as he is of those servants watching him. The Imam's saying—that the benefit of the writing might be so that those scrolls are weighed on the Day of Resurrection, because weighing deeds is impossible, unlike weighing the scrolls, which is possible—is not sound, as is obvious. The view that the scrolls themselves are weighed is the view of some.

"And He sends" is a new sentence or a conjunction to "The Subduer" because it carries the meaning of the One who subdues. Its conjunction—as Abu al-Baqa claimed—to "He takes your souls" and the subsequent imperfect verbs is not sound, just as the possibility of making it a state for the pronoun in "The Subduer" or in the adverbial phrase is not sound, because the circumstantial waw (as we indicated earlier) does not enter upon the imperfect verb. Assuming an implied subject does not save it from being anomalous according to the correct view. "Over you" relates to "sends" because it contains the meaning of prevailing. Putting it before the direct object is for the reasons mentioned more than once: care for the fronted element and creating anticipation for the delayed one. It is said that it relates to an implied state from "guardians," for if it were delayed, it would be an adjective, i.e., "existing over you." It is also said it relates to "guardians," which is the plural of "guardian" (hafiz), like kataba and katib.

The "until" in His saying: "Until, when death comes to one of you" is the one that initiates the speech; it also makes the conditional clause following it the end-point for what precedes it. It is as if it were said: "And He sends over you guardians who record what they record of you for the duration of your life, until the time of one of you ends and the causes and beginnings of death arrive."

"Our messengers take him"—the others to whom that is entrusted. There, the guardianship of the guardians ends. The meaning of "messengers," according to what Ibn Jarir and Abu al-Shaykh narrated from Ibn Abbas—may Allah be pleased with them both—is the helpers of the Angel of Death. Similar is what we narrated from Qatadah, who said: "The Angel of Death has messengers who handle the taking of souls, then they hand them over to the Angel of Death."

‘Abd al-Razzaq and Ibn al-Mundhir narrated from al-Kalbi that the Angel of Death is the one who handles this, then he hands the soul over to the angels of mercy if it is a believer, or to the angels of punishment if it is an unbeliever. The majority hold that the one who handles it is the Angel of Death, and he has helpers among the angels. Attributing the action to both the executor and the helper is metaphorical, just as one says, "The tribe of so-and-so killed a man," when the killer was only one of them. The attribution of the action to the Angel of Death alone has occurred considering him the direct executor, and to Allah—Glorified be He—considering that He is the real Commander. We have indicated previously that some of the Sufis—may Allah sanctify their secrets—said that the One who takes the soul is sometimes Allah directly without an intermediary, sometimes the Angel, and sometimes the messengers or others, according to the varying states of the one whose soul is taken. According to al-Zajjaj—which is strange—the meaning of "messengers" here is the guardians, so the meaning is that He sends them for guarding in life and for taking the soul at the arrival of death. Hamza read tawaffathu with an alif and imalah. It was also read in the anomalous recitations as tatwaffathu.

(And they do not fall short): in indolence and delay. Al-A‘raj read it with light [pronunciation] from al-ifrat (excess), which is exceeding the limit, and it occurs through addition or subtraction; meaning: they do not exceed what was set for them through addition or subtraction. The clause is a state from "Our messengers." It is also said that it is a new sentence, brought to explain their diligence in what they were commanded to do.