When the Angles of death come and extend their hands to those people who sin themselves, they will say:
وَلَوْ تَرَىٰ إِذِ الظَّالِمُونَ فِي غَمَرَاتِ الْمَوْتِ وَالْمَلَائِكَةُ بَاسِطُو أَيْدِيهِمْ أَخْرِجُوا أَنفُسَكُمُ ۖ الْيَوْمَ تُجْزَوْنَ عَذَابَ الْهُونِ بِمَا كُنتُمْ تَقُولُونَ عَلَى اللَّهِ غَيْرَ الْحَقِّ وَكُنتُمْ عَنْ آيَاتِهِ تَسْتَكْبِرُونَ
(And if you could but see when the wrongdoers are in the overwhelming pangs of death while the angels extend their hands, [saying], “Discharge your souls! Today you will be awarded the punishment of [extreme] humiliation for what you used to say against Allah other than the truth and [that] you were, toward His verses, being arrogant.”) (Al-An’aam: 93)
( أَوْ يَأْتِيَ رَبُّكَ) (or your Lord should come): We should not understand the (act of coming) on the part of Allah (swt) in the light of its counterpart by human beings, rather by the fact that :
لَيْسَ كَمِثْلِهِ شَيْءٌ
(There is nothing like unto Him) (Ash-Shura: 11)
That is why we say “Allah (swt) has sight but it is not like ours”. Similarly, that Allah (should come) does not mean to move from one place to another, because this is how it is for human beings. When the Prophet (saws) said:
“Allah descends every night to the lowest heaven when one-third of the first part of the night is over and says: I am the Lord; I am the Lord: who is there to supplicate Me so that I answer him? Who is there to beg of Me so that I grant him? Who is there to beg forgiveness from Me so that I forgive him? He continues like this till the day breaks.”[1]
Allah (swt) descends in a way that is suitable for His Majesty (swt) and the perfection of His Attributes. It is neither descending nor moving from one place to another. We do not comprehend the act of descending on the part of Allah (swt), but what we do know is that there is nothing resembling Him (swt).
( أَوْ يَأْتِيَ بَعْضُ آيَاتِ رَبِّكَ) (or that there come some of the signs of your Lord?): The signs of the Day of Resurrection. As for this verse, Abu-Huraira (may Allah be pleased with him) narrated to us that the Prophet (saws) said:
“The hour will not be established till the sun rises from the West; and when it rises (from the West) and the people see it, they all will believe. And that is (the time) when: (no soul will benefit from its faith as long as it had not believed before or had earned through its faith some good).”[2]
He (saws) also said:
“Hasten to do good deeds before six things happen: the rising of the sun from the west, the smoke, the Dajjal, the beast and (the death) of one of you or the general turmoil.”[3]
The general turmoil is the Day of Judgement.
( يَوْمَ يَأْتِي بَعْضُ آيَاتِ رَبِّكَ لَا يَنفَعُ نَفْسًا إِيمَانُهَا لَمْ تَكُنْ آمَنَتْ مِن قَبْلُ أَوْ كَسَبَتْ فِي إِيمَانِهَا خَيْرًا) (The Day that some of the signs of your Lord will come no soul will benefit from its faith as long as it had not believed before or had earned through its faith some good.): When these signs come or when the souls reach the throat, no disbeliever will profit from his belief. This is because (faith) applies to believing in what is unseen, so when a person dies, he witnesses the truth, at that particular time faith will be of no benefit. For example, a person cannot say that he believes that he holds a pen in his hand when he is actually holding it at that moment. But we do say that we believe some people do this and that; when we do not see them actually.
( أَوْ كَسَبَتْ فِي إِيمَانِهَا خَيْرًا) (or had earned through its faith some good): This means that faith and the good deeds out of it, must precede the coming of these signs to be accepted.
( قُلِ انتَظِرُوا) (Wait.): Indicating that what is coming is inevitable, just like death, no one can escape it. Allah (swt) says:
وَجَاءَتْ سَكْرَةُ الْمَوْتِ بِالْحَقِّ ۖ ذَٰلِكَ مَا كُنتَ مِنْهُ تَحِيدُ
(And the intoxication of death will bring the truth; that is what you were trying to avoid.) (Kaaf: 19)
Only Allah (swt) knows how the intoxication of death will bring the truth.
( إِنَّا مُنتَظِرُون) (Indeed, we [also] are waiting): The polytheists are waiting for the failure and we are waiting for success. Allah (swt) says:
إِنَّكَ مَيِّتٌ وَإِنَّهُم مَّيِّتُونَ
(Indeed, you are to die, and indeed, they are to die.) (Az-Zumur: 30)
He (swt) also says:
كُلُّ نَفْسٍ ذَائِقَةُ الْمَوْتِ
(Every soul will taste death) (Ali-Imraan: 185)
[1] Sahih Muslim, The Book of Prayer – Travelers, Hadith No. 758.
[2] Sahih Al-Bukhari, Book of Tafseer of the Quran, Chapter: (Surah al-An’am”, Hadith No. 4359.
[3] Al-Mustadrak Ala-as-Sahihayn, Part 4, P. 561, Hadith No. 8574.