Surah At-Tariq 86:4
ﱌ ﱍ ﱎ ﱏ ﱐ ﱑ
There is no soul but that it has over it a protector.
Tafsir of At-Tariq 86:4
Tafsir
Al-Kashshaf
Verse range: 86:4
At-Tariq: (4) "Indeed, every soul..."
If you ask: What is the answer to the oath? I say: It is {Indeed, every soul has a guardian over it}.
Regarding the one who recites lammā (لَمَّا) with a shaddah (doubled), it is in the sense of "except" (illā), functioning as a negation. Regarding the one who recites it with a takhfīf (lightened), the mā (مَا) is an expletive, and it is the lightened form of the heavy inna (إِنَّ). In either case, it is the response to the oath.
A "guardian" (ḥāfiẓ) is one who dominates and watches over it. This is Allah, the Almighty and Exalted: {And Allah is ever, over all things, an Observer} (Al-Aḥzāb: 52), {And ever is Allah, over all things, a Keeper} (An-Nisāʾ: 85).
It is also said: It refers to an angel who preserves its deeds and counts against it whatever it earns of good and evil.
It is narrated from the Prophet (peace be upon him): "One hundred and sixty angels are assigned to the believer to defend him, just as flies are driven away from a bowl of honey. If the servant were left to himself for the blinking of an eye, the devils would snatch him away."