سورة المؤمنون

Imam Baqir (peace be upon him): When Allah wills to take the soul of a disbeliever, ... [the disbeliever], upon seeing the angel of death, his eye becomes fixed, his mind departs, and he says: "O angel of death, send me back [to the world]!" The angel of death says: کَلَّا إنَّهَا کَلِمَةٌ هُوَ قائِلُه [By no means! It is a mere word that he speaks].

Imam Ali (peace be upon him): O servants of Allah! Know that you and what you possess of this world are in the same state as those who have gone before you — those whose lifespans were longer than yours, whose dwellings were more prosperous, and whose traces were more significant. They rose one morning while their voices had fallen silent, and stillness [and death] had overtaken them after that long span; their bodies decayed, their cities emptied, and their traces vanished. They exchanged lofty palaces and firm buildings, fine cushions and spread-out bedding, for the stones of the grave pressed against the niche. Those graves were built to be ruined, and their structures have become level with the dust. Those graves are close to one another, yet their dwellers are strangers and unfamiliar, dwelling among the people of a neighbourhood who are fearful and terrified, and among a group who outwardly seem at ease but are in fact afflicted. They take no comfort in their homelands; though they are near and neighbours to one another, they do not associate as neighbours do. And how could there be visiting among them when decay has ground them down and stones and dust have devoured them?! After a period of living they have become dead, and after ease of life they have been reduced to misery and destitution (death). Whatever they loved was taken from them; they became dwellers of dust, migrated there, and will never return in any way. It is impossible and far-fetched [that they should return]; إِنَّها کَلِمَةٌ هُوَ قائِلُها وَ مِنْ وَرائِهِمْ بَرْزَخٌ إِلی یَوْمِ یُبْعَثُونَ [It is (mere) a word that he speaks; and before them is a barrier until the day they are raised]. You too will go to that same affliction and place of solitude, will settle in that resting-place, and will embrace that trust-chamber.

Imam Ali (peace be upon him): You, O servants of Allah, are on the path of those who have passed and the way of those who existed and then came to an end — those whose lifespans were longer than yours, who were braver than you, and who had greater zeal for building their lands. When morning came they found that their bodies had decayed, their dwellings were empty, and their traces destroyed. They exchanged firm and stone palaces for graveyards and the neighbourhood of worms; in a dwelling whose resident is a stranger and whose place is near, among a fearful and oppressive people who take no comfort in one another, do not visit one another, and though they are near to each other and their houses share walls, do not come and go as neighbours do. How could there be visiting among them when the mill of decay has ground them to flour and the pebbles and dust of the grave have cast their shadow over them? After life they rose as dead ones and became lifeless corpses; their loved ones grieved, they took their place in the dust, they migrated and do not return; they wished to return, and the distance between them and their wish is the word "کَلاَّ": کَلاَّ إِنَّها کَلِمَةٌ هُوَ قائِلُها وَ مِنْ وَرائِهِمْ بَرْزَخٌ إِلی یَوْمِ یُبْعَثُونَ [By no means! It is (mere) a word that he speaks; and before them is a barrier until the day they are raised].

Imam Sajjad (peace be upon him): بَرْزَخٌ [The barrier] is the grave itself.

Imam Ali (peace be upon him): In refutation of the view of those who deny reward and punishment in the world after death and before the Resurrection ... this is the statement of Allah the Exalted: وَ مِنْ وَرائِهِمْ بَرْزَخٌ إِلی یَوْمِ یُبْعَثُونَ [and before them is a barrier until the day they are raised], which is a matter between two matters; that matter is the reward and punishment which lies between the two matters of this world and the Hereafter.

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): Barzakh means [what is] between two things, and what is meant by it is the reward and punishment between this world and the Hereafter. This verse is a response to those who deny reward and punishment before the Day of Resurrection. By Allah! The only thing I fear for you is the barzakh; for on the Day of Resurrection, when the resolution of your affair is in our hands, we ourselves will intercede for you.

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): Ali ibn Ibrahim said: Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him) said: "Barzakh is the grave, and it is the reward and punishment between this world and the Hereafter. The proof of this statement is also the hadith of the Imam (peace be upon him) who says: 'By Allah, I do not fear anything for you except the barzakh.'"

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): Amr ibn Yazid said: I said to Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): "I heard you [saying] that all of our lovers and Shia, whatever deeds they may have, are in Paradise?" He said: "Yes, you speak truly; by Allah! all of them have a place in Paradise." I said: "May I be your ransom! What about those who have many great sins?!" He said: "On the Day of Resurrection, all of you will enter Paradise through the intercession of the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) or Ali ibn Abi Talib (peace be upon him); but by Allah! I fear for you concerning the barzakh." I asked: "What is the barzakh?" He said: "The grave, which lasts from the time of death until the Day of Resurrection."

Imam Ali (peace be upon him): [The dead] finally found their way into the barzakh (grave); the earth took them into itself, ate from the flesh of their bodies and drank from their blood, and they remained hidden in the crevices of the graves, lifeless, without movement and growth, so that no one can find them. They are not worried about changes, they pay no heed to terrifying earthquakes, and they do not listen to loud cries. They are absentees for whom no one waits, and present ones who are not present. They had a society and were scattered; they were kind to one another and became separated. If their memory is forgotten or their dwellings have fallen silent, it is not because of the length of time [of their death] or the distance of their place; rather, they drank the cup of death and by that means, they who were speaking became mute, they who were hearing became deaf, and their movements were turned into stillness. They rested so that it is as though they had fallen unconscious upon the dust and sunk into sleep. They are neighbours who do not keep company with one another, and friends who do not visit one another. The bonds of acquaintance among them have decayed and the causes of brotherhood have been cut off. Though they are gathered in one place, they are alone; they are companions of each other yet distant from one another; they know no morning for the night, and no evening for the day. Whichever of the two — night or day — they departed in on the journey of death, it is everlasting for them. They found the dangers of that world more terrifying than what they feared, and they saw its signs greater than what they imagined. For reaching Paradise or Hell, they were given respite until their final abode, and a world of fear and hope came together for them. If they wished to describe what they saw, their tongues would fail them."