Surah An-Nazi'at (The Snatchers)

Verse 1

It is a Meccan Surah consisting of forty-six verses.

Explanation of the Verses (1-5):

These five oaths are sworn by things that move with distinct actions, alluding to the angels and their roles in managing the affairs of existence, particularly concerning the taking of souls.

1. "By those who drag forth [the souls of the disbelievers] violently" (والنازعات غرقا): This refers to the angels of death who violently seize the souls of the wicked, pulling them out with harshness.
2. "And those who draw forth [the souls of the believers] gently" (والناشطات نشطا): This refers to the angels who gently and easily extract the souls of the righteous.
3. "And those who swim [through the heavens] with ease" (والسابحات سبحا): This refers to the angels descending or ascending through the heavens smoothly, like swimmers in water.
4. "And those who precede [others] in a race" (فالسابقات سبقا): This refers to the angels who swiftly race to execute God's commands.
5. "And those who arrange [affairs] by command" (فالمدبرات أمرا): This refers to the angels who manage the affairs of the world according to God's decree.

(The oath is taken by these entities to emphasize the certainty of the matter that follows, which is the Resurrection and the Reckoning.)

Surah An-Nazi'at (The Extractors): Verse 1

وَالنَّازِعَاتِ غَرْقًا (By those that drag forth [souls] forcefully,)

There are two main possibilities regarding these five opening phrases:

1. They are all attributes of one thing.
2. They are attributes of different things.

Possibility 1: All Attributes of One Thing (The Angels)

Many scholars hold that these five terms describe the angels.

• وَالنَّازِعَاتِ غَرْقًا (By those that drag forth forcefully): This refers to the angels who extract the souls of humankind. When extracting the souls of the disbelievers, they pull them out with great severity. The term ighrāq (forceful dragging) is derived from pulling a bow to its utmost limit until the arrow reaches the nock. The meaning is: "By those that drag forth with extreme force."
• وَالنَّاشِطَاتِ نَشْطًا (And those that draw out gently): Nashṭ means to pull or draw out gently. This refers to the angels who gently draw out the souls of the believers. The distinction between *naz' (forceful pulling) and nashṭ (gentle drawing) is made because the former applies to the disbelievers and the latter to the believers.
• Conclusion on the first two: These two phrases constitute an oath by the Angel of Death and his assistants, indicating the manner in which they seize the souls of the disbelievers (forcefully) and the believers (gently).
• وَالسَّابِحَاتِ سَبْحًا (And those that swim smoothly): Some restrict this also to the angels extracting souls, while others apply it to various categories of angels.
  • Restriction to Soul Extraction (Reported from Ali, Ibn Abbas, Masruq): The angels gently ease out the souls of the believers (as described by nashṭ). Then, they leave the soul briefly to rest before extracting it further with gentleness and ease, like someone swimming softly in water to avoid distress. This gentle extraction is what is meant by as-sābiḥāt sabḥā.
  • Application to all Angels: Angels descend from heaven swiftly, and their descent is likened to swimming (sabaḥa). Arabs also call swift horses "swimmers" (sābiḥ).
• فَالسَّابِقَاتِ سَبْقًا (And those that precede in precedence):
  • Soul Extraction: Some interpret this as the angels racing with the souls of the disbelievers to the Fire, and with the souls of the believers to Paradise.
  • General Angels (Other interpretations of their precedence):
    1. Precedence in Faith and Obedience (Mujahid, Abu Rawq): Angels preceded mankind in faith and obedience, and precedence in good deeds is a high station (referencing As-Sābiqūn in Al-Waqi'ah).
    2. Precedence in Revelation (Al-Farra', Al-Zajjaj): Angels precede the devils in bringing revelation to the Prophets, as devils used to snatch whispers from hearing.
    3. Precedence in Obedience: They are described as not speaking before receiving permission (lā yasbiqūnahu bil-qawl), but when commanded, they hasten to obey and execute the order immediately. This is the meaning of fās-sābiqāti sabqā.
• فَالْمُدَبِّرَاتِ أَمْرًا (And those that arrange affairs): There is consensus that these are the angels.
  • Specific Angels (Muqatil): Gabriel, Michael, Israfil, and Azrael (peace be upon them) arrange God's affairs concerning the inhabitants of the earth.
  • Division of Duties: Gabriel is in charge of winds and armies; Michael is in charge of rain and vegetation; the Angel of Death is in charge of seizing souls; Israfil descends with commands. Others are tasked with guarding mankind, recording deeds, causing sinkholes, transformations, winds, clouds, and rain.

Two Questions Arising from Fā-l-Mudabbirāt Amran:

1. Why singular Amran (an affair) and not plural Umūran (affairs), since they manage many things?
   • Answer: Amr here refers to the genus (the concept of command/affair), which stands in place of the plural when used generically.
2. How can they manage affairs when all command belongs to God?
   • Answer: Because their management is by His command (as if the command is delegated to them), it is attributed to them in that context.

Al-Razi's Personal Interpretation (A Different Perspective):

Al-Razi suggests viewing the angels through two types of attributes: Negative and Relative (or Additional).

• Negative Attributes (What they are free from): They are purified from desire, anger, blameworthy characteristics, death, old age, sickness, and composition from elements/humors. They are spiritual essences free from these conditions.
  • وَالنَّازِعَاتِ غَرْقًا: Signifies their complete and total extraction from these physical conditions. They are "possessors of extraction" (dhawāt an-naz') in this sense, similar to how one says "a possessor of milk" (lābin).
  • وَالنَّاشِطَاتِ نَشْطًا: Signifies that their departure from these conditions is not due to burdensome effort (like humans), but is inherent to their very nature (māhiyyah). These two terms define their negative states.
• Relative Attributes (What they possess): These describe their intellectual and active powers.
  • Intellectual Power (Knowledge of God's Majesty):
    1. وَالسَّابِحَاتِ سَبْحًا: They swim eternally in the oceans of God's Majesty, as God's greatness is infinite.
    2. فَالسَّابِقَاتِ سَبْقًا: This indicates the ranks of the angels within that swimming/knowledge. Just as the knowledge of beasts is inferior to humans, and humans to angels, so too do the ranks of angels vary among themselves based on their inherent nature (māhiyyah), leading to different degrees of knowledge and manifestation.
  • Active Power (Action):
    • فَالْمُدَبِّرَاتِ أَمْرًا: This describes their active function. Every state in the lower world is entrusted to the management of one of these angels inhabiting the heavens. The intellectual power is mentioned first because action requires prior knowledge.

Objection to the Angel Interpretation (Abu Muslim Al-Isfahani):

Abu Muslim objected that the feminine plural form (ending in āt) implies femininity, which God has explicitly negated for angels (Quran 43:19).

• Rebuttal: This objection does not apply to our interpretation, as the term refers to "things possessing extraction" (dhawāt an-naz')—a grammatical construction that does not necessitate femininity.

Possibility 2: The Five Terms Refer to Different Things

1. The Stars (Al-Hasan Al-Basri):
   • وَالنَّازِعَاتِ غَرْقًا: They are pulled up from beneath the earth towards the sky, or they move with extreme exertion (naz'a means to go/depart). They rise and set with forceful movement.
   • غَرْقًا (Forcefully): Can mean they are like the drowned in their exertion, signifying the perfection of their intended motion. Or, it means their setting/disappearance below the horizon.
   • وَالنَّاشِطَاتِ نَشْطًا: They move from one zodiac sign to another (thawr nāshiṭ means a bull moving from one land to another). This refers to their specific orbital movement, contrasted with their daily motion.
   • وَالسَّابِحَاتِ سَبْحًا: They swim in the firmament, as their passage resembles swimming (like "every one swims in an orbit").
   • فَالسَّابِقَاتِ سَبْقًا: Some stars precede others in their paths due to differences in speed, or due to retrograde/direct motion.
   • فَالْمُدَبِّرَاتِ أَمْرًا: Their movement determines the times for worship (prayer times, sighting of the new moon for Hajj) and the succession of the four seasons, which affects human livelihood. Alternatively, since celestial bodies are created, they require a Creator. If we assume God imbued them with effective powers, this arrangement (where their specific motion causes a specific event) is merely an established custom ('ādah), like eating causing satiety, which does not harm Islamic doctrine.

2. Mixed Interpretation:
   • Al-Mawt (Death): An-Nāzi'āt, An-Nāshiṭāt, As-Sābiḥāt refer to Death (as souls are extracted, drawn out, and swim away).
   • Al-Malā'ikah (Angels): As-Sābiqāt and Al-Mudabbirāt refer to the angels.

3. Mixed Interpretation (Qatadah): All five refer to the stars, except Al-Mudabbirāt, which refers to the angels.

Possibility 3: The Five Terms Refer to the Souls (Al-Arwāḥ)

• وَالنَّازِعَاتِ غَرْقًا: Souls are in the throes of death (siyāq), undergoing the most intense extraction.
• وَالنَّاشِطَاتِ نَشْطًا: After leaving the darkness of the body, the souls, free from physical attachments and yearning for the higher connection, move swiftly towards the realm of angels and holiness.
• وَالسَّابِحَاتِ سَبْحًا: Their departure towards the higher realms is described as swimming.
• فَالسَّابِقَاتِ سَبْقًا: Souls differ in their eagerness to leave the world and join the higher realm; the more perfect the soul, the faster its journey.
• فَالْمُدَبِّرَاتِ أَمْرًا: It is plausible that these noble, high-ranking souls exert effects on the lower world due to their power and honor (e.g., guidance in dreams, as seen in historical examples of physicians or fathers guiding sons). This influence, when positive, is called ilhām (inspiration); when negative, it is waswasa (temptation).

Possibility 4: Attributes of the Warriors' Horses

• وَالنَّازِعَاتِ غَرْقًا: Horses straining at their reins, whose long necks cause the reins to be deeply pulled.
• وَالنَّاشِطَاتِ نَشْطًا: They depart from the land of Islam to the land of war (thawr nāshiṭ).
• وَالسَّابِحَاتِ سَبْحًا: They swim (run swiftly) in their gallop.
• فَالسَّابِقَاتِ سَبْقًا: They precede others to the goal.
• فَالْمُدَبِّرَاتِ أَمْرًا: They manage the affair of victory and conquest (metaphorically, as they are the means).

Possibility 5: Attributes of the Warriors' Equipment (Abu Muslim's Choice)

• وَالنَّازِعَاتِ غَرْقًا: The hands of the warriors, as the archer "drags" his bow, reaching the maximum draw (ighrāq).
• وَالنَّاشِطَاتِ نَشْطًا: The arrows, as they leave the hands and penetrate (to nashṭ something means to loosen it; nashāṭ is agility/lightness).
• وَالسَّابِحَاتِ سَبْحًا: The horses (or perhaps camels) swimming (running).
• فَالسَّابِقَاتِ سَبْقًا: (Implied action preceding the next).
• فَالْمُدَبِّرَاتِ أَمْرًا: Victory and triumph, which follow the sequence of drawing the bow, the arrows flying, and the horses running. The feminine plural is used because these are collective nouns (like al-mudabbirāt).

Possibility 6: Stages of the Heart's Return to God

This interprets the terms as stages in the heart's journey away from everything other than God and towards Him.

• وَالنَّازِعَاتِ غَرْقًا: Souls pulled towards grasping the firm covenant (or extracted from the love of anything other than God).
• وَالنَّاشِطَاتِ نَشْطًا: After turning away from the physical, they engage in struggle (mujāhadah) and acquiring divine attributes with full vigor and strength.
• وَالسَّابِحَاتِ سَبْحًا: After this struggle, they swim freely in the seas of the Divine Dominion (Malakūt).
• فَالسَّابِقَاتِ سَبْقًا: Indicates the varying ranks of souls in their journey toward God.
• فَالْمُدَبِّرَاتِ أَمْرًا: Signifies that the highest human rank connects with the lowest rank of the angels. When human souls reach their ultimate goal (the rank of precedence), they connect with the angelic realm. (The first four relate to the light of the oil in the lamp of light (Surah An-Nur), and the fifth relates to the fire mentioned there).

Concluding Note on Interpretation: The transmitted interpretations are not explicitly narrated from the Prophet (PBUH) as definitive rulings, but are based on the linguistic potential of the words. If a single, shared concept underlies all these possibilities, the term should be applied to that shared concept. If no common concept exists, we must state that the meaning is probable rather than certain.

The word fā' (then/so) is used for fās-sābiqāt (the preceding ones), while wāw (and) is used for the preceding terms.

1. Causality (Al-Kashshāf): The fā' implies that the preceding action caused the subsequent one. E.g., "They swam, and thus they preceded." This suggests a sequence of actions: swimming leads to precedence.
   • Al-Wāḥidī's Objection: This causality seems weak for the final term: "The preceding ones, then the arrangers of affairs." Precedence does not obviously cause arrangement.
   • Rebuttal to Al-Wāḥidī: a. They were commanded to swim, and by swimming, they preceded, and by preceding, they arranged what they were commanded to arrange. The actions are linked sequentially. b. Because they were swift in performing obedience (precedence), their trustworthiness became apparent, leading God to entrust them with managing the world's affairs.

2. Hierarchy of Angels: Angels are divided into leaders (Rulers) and students (Subordinates).
   • The verses mentioning Nāzi'āt, Nāshiṭāt, Sābiḥāt refer to the students who directly execute the work.
   • The verses using fā' (Fās-sābiqāt and Fā-l-Mudabbirāt) refer to the leaders who are superior in rank and honor and who arrange those affairs. (This is supported by verses mentioning both the Angel of Death alone and the "messengers" taking the soul).

يَوْمَ تَرْجُفُ الرَّاجِفَةُ * تَتْبَعُهَا الرَّادِفَةُ * قُلُوبٌ يَوْمَئِذٍ وَاجِفَةٌ * أَبْصَارُهَا خَاشِعَةٌ

(The Day the first blast will shake, / Followed by the second blast, / Hearts on that Day will tremble, / And their eyes cast down in humility.)