Tafsir of Al-An'am 6:61

{حفظة} They are angels who preserve your deeds; they are the "Noble Recorders" (al-kirām al-kātibūn). It is narrated from Abū Ḥātim al-Sijistānī that he used to write down everything he heard from al-Aṣmaʿī regarding the benefits of knowledge, to the point that al-Aṣmaʿī said to him: "You are like the Ḥafaẓah (Preservers), you write down even the chatter of speech." Abū Ḥātim replied: "This, too, is something that is written down."

If you ask: "God Almighty is, by His knowledge, independent of the writing of the angels, so what is the benefit of it?" I say: It contains a kindness (luṭf) for the servants. For when they know that God is watching over them, and that the angels—who are the most noble of His creation—are appointed over them to preserve their deeds and record them in scrolls that will be displayed before the witnesses at the stations of Resurrection, this serves as a greater deterrent for them against the ugly and keeps them further away from evil.

{توفته رسلنا} Meaning: They take his soul in full. They are the Angel of Death and his assistants. Mujāhid said: "The earth is made for him like a basin, from which he takes whoever he takes. There is no household but that he circles them twice every day." It is also read as tawaffāhu. It may be interpreted as past tense or present tense, meaning tatawaffāhu (they take his soul).

{يفرطون} Read with both tashdīd (doubling) and takhfīf (lightening). Tafrīṭ is slackness and delaying beyond the limit, while ifrāṭ is exceeding the limit. Meaning: They do not fall short of what they were commanded, nor do they exceed it.

{ثم ردوا إلى الله} Meaning: To His judgment and His recompense.

{مولاهم الحق} Their Master, the Owner who manages their affairs. Al-Ḥaqq (The Truth/The Real) is the Just One who judges only with truth.

{ألا له الحكم} On that day, no one else has judgment.

{وهو أسرع الحاسبين} One reckoning does not distract Him from another. It is also read as al-ḥaqqa in the accusative case as a form of praise, like saying: "Praise be to God, the Truth."

{قل من ينجيكم من ظلمات البر والبحر تدعونه تضرعا وخفية لئن أنجانا من هاذه لنكونن من الشاكرين * قل الله ينجيكم منها ومن كل كرب ثم أنتم تشركون}