Al-An'am (The Cattle): (60) And He it is Who causes you to die...

It is known that after Allah, the Exalted, established the perfection of His Knowledge in the previous verse, He establishes the perfection of His Power in this verse. This power is His ability to transfer beings from death to life, and from sleep to wakefulness, His sole authority to guard them in all states, and to manage them in the best manner during sleep and wakefulness.

As for His saying: {And He it is Who causes you to die} (60), the meaning is that Allah, the Exalted, causes you to sleep, thereby causing your souls—those by which you perceive and distinguish—to die (be taken back). This is similar to His saying: {Allah takes the souls at the time of their death, and [the souls] that have not died during their sleep. He retains those for which He has decreed death and sends the others for a specified term} (Az-Zumar: 42). Thus, Allah, the Glorified and Exalted, seizes the spirits from active control through sleep just as He seizes them through death.

Here, there is a discussion: A sleeping person is undoubtedly alive, and as long as one is alive, their spirit cannot be completely seized. If this is the case, it is not correct to say that Allah caused them to die. Therefore, an interpretation is necessary here: The state of sleep involves the sensitive spirits receding from the outward (the physical senses) to the inward. Consequently, the outward senses become suspended from their functions. Thus, during sleep, the outward body is suspended from some actions, whereas during death, the entire body is suspended from all actions. A similarity is thus established between sleep and death from this perspective, making it permissible to use the term Wafāh (taking away/death) and Mawt (death) for sleep on this basis.

Then He said: {and He knows what you have earned by day}. This means what you have acquired through deeds during the day. Allah, the Exalted, also said: {And [what you have learned] of the beasts of prey} (Al-Ma'idah: 4), referring to the earning creatures like birds and beasts of prey; the singular is Jārihah. Allah also said: {And those who have ijtarahū [committed/earned]} (Al-Furqan: 32). In summary, what is meant here are the actions of the limbs (Jawārih).

Then Allah, the Exalted, said: {then He resurrects you therein}. This means He returns your spirits to you during the day. The resurrection (Ba‘th) here means awakening. Then He said: {to complete a term appointed}, meaning your written lifespans, which corresponds to His statement: {and a term appointed is with Him} (Al-An'am: 2). The meaning is that He awakens you from your sleep until you reach your appointed terms. The meaning of Qaḍā’ (decreeing/completing) is the definitive separation of a matter in a complete manner. The meaning of Qaḍā’ al-Ajal (completing the term) is the separation of the duration of life from what follows it by death.

And know that when Allah, the Exalted, mentioned that He causes them to sleep first and then awakens them second, this serves as an analogy to being brought to life after being made dead. Consequently, this is used as evidence for the validity of the Resurrection and the Day of Judgment. He said: {Then to your Lord is your return, and He will inform you of what you used to do}—during your night and day, and in all your states and actions.

{And He is the Overpowering, above His servants, and He sends over you guardians until, when death comes to one of you, Our messengers take him in death, and they do not fail in their duty. Then they are returned to Allah, their true Master. Unquestionably, His is the judgment, and He is the swiftest of accountants.} (61)