سورة الإنفطار

Ali ibn Ibrahim (may Allah have mercy on him): وَ إِنَّ عَلَیْکُمْ لَحَافِظِینَ [And most surely there are keepers over you] — the meaning is those two angels who are charged with and responsible for the human being.

Imam Ali (peace be upon him): Imam Ali (peace be upon him) delivered a sermon in Basra and said: ... O group of my Shia! Be patient upon a deed whose reward you cannot do without, and restrain yourselves patiently from committing a deed whose punishment you cannot endure. We have found patience upon obedience to Allah easier than patience upon the punishment of Allah the Mighty and Majestic. Know that you have a limited lifespan, a long hope, and a counted number of breaths. Inevitably the lifespan comes to an end, the register of hopes is folded up, and the breaths reach their close. Then tears flowed from his eyes and he recited this verse: وَ إِنَّ عَلَیْکُمْ لَحافِظِینَ کِراماً کاتِبِینَ یَعْلَمُونَ ما تَفْعَلُونَ [And most surely there are keepers over you, honourable recorders, they know what you do].

Ibn Abbas (may Allah have mercy on him): The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) said: "Allah has forbidden you from being naked, so feel shame before the angels who are with you — the honourable recorders (al-Kiram al-Katibin) — who do not part from you except at one of three needs: relieving oneself, sexual intercourse, and bathing."

Ibn Abbas (may Allah have mercy on him): Allah has placed over the son of Adam two guardians during the night and two guardians during the day; they preserve his deeds and record his traces.

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): Zurara said: I heard Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him) saying: "When the believing servant commits a sin, he is granted respite from morning until night; if he seeks forgiveness from Allah, it is not recorded against him."

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): Whenever the believing servant commits a sin, Allah grants him seven hours of respite. If he seeks forgiveness from Allah, nothing is recorded against him; and if those hours pass and he does not seek forgiveness, one sin is recorded against him. Sometimes the believer recalls his sin after twenty years and seeks forgiveness from Allah, and Allah forgives him; but the disbeliever forgets his sin in that very moment.

Imam Kazim (peace be upon him): Abdullah ibn Musa ibn Ja'far (peace be upon him) said: I asked my father: "About the two angels (appointed) over a person — do they know whenever the servant intends to commit a sin or intends to do a good deed?" He said: "Are the smell of the latrine and the smell of perfume the same?" I said: "No." He said: "Indeed, when the servant resolves upon a good deed, his breath comes out fragrant, so the angel of the right says to the angel of the left: 'Rise [and follow your business], for this one has resolved upon a good deed'; and when he performs that good deed, his tongue is the angel's pen and his saliva is his ink, and he records it for him. And when he resolves upon a sin, his breath comes out foul, so the angel of the left says to the angel of the right: 'Halt [hold back and do not write anything], for he has resolved upon a sin'; and when he commits that sin, his tongue is the angel's pen and his saliva his ink, and he records that sin against him."

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): A zindiq (heretic) asked Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): "What is the reason for the angels appointed over the servants who write down their good and evil, when Allah knows the secret and what is even more hidden?" He said: "He set them to this worship and made them witnesses over His creation, so that His servants, by their constant company, would be more diligent in obedience to Allah and more restrained from His disobedience. How often a servant intends a sin, then recalls their presence and desists and says: 'My Lord sees me, and my guardians bear witness against me in this.' And Allah, out of His compassion and kindness, has also appointed them over His servants to ward off from them the rebellious devils, the vermin of the earth and many afflictions from where they do not see, by Allah's permission, until Allah the Mighty and Majestic's command comes."

The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family): Sa'd al-Su'ud narrated from the book Qisas al-Qur'an by Haysam ibn Muhammad al-Naysaburi: Uthman came to the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) and said: "Tell me, how many angels are with a servant?" He said: "An angel on your right, who writes your good deeds, and one on your left; when you do a good deed, he writes it tenfold, and when you do a bad deed, the angel on the left says to the one on the right: 'Shall I write it?' He says: 'Perhaps he will seek forgiveness and repent.' When he asks him for the third time, he says: 'Yes, write it. May Allah give us relief from him! What a bad companion he is, and how little he watches out for Allah, the Mighty and Majestic, and how little shame he has before Him.' Allah says: ما یَلْفِظُ مِنْ قَوْلٍ إِلَّا لَدَیْهِ رَقِیبٌ عَتِیدٌ [A person does not utter any word except that there is with him a watcher, ready (to record it)!] (Qaf/18). And there are two angels in front of you and behind you; Allah the Glorified says: لَهُ مُعَقِّباتٌ مِنْ بَیْنِ یَدَیْهِ وَ مِنْ خَلْفِهِ [For every person there are (angels) in succession, before and behind him] (Ra'd/11). And there is an angel who has hold of your forelock; when you humble yourself before Allah, He raises you up, and when you act arrogantly toward Allah, He casts you down and disgraces you. And there are two angels on your two lips who record only the salawat upon Muhammad (peace be upon him and his family). And there is an angel standing over your mouth who does not allow a snake to enter your mouth. And there are two angels upon your two eyes. So these are ten angels appointed over every human being, and the angels of the night are other than the angels of the day, so altogether they are twenty angels appointed over every human being. Besides this, Iblis is with him by day, and the children of Iblis by night. Allah the Exalted said: وَ إِنَّ عَلَیْکُمْ لَحافِظِینَ [And most surely there are keepers over you] — the verse. And Allah, the Mighty and Majestic, said: [Remember] إِذْ یَتَلَقَّی الْمُتَلَقِّیانِ [when the two receivers (angels) on the right and left, who accompany a person, receive his deeds] (Qaf/17)."

Imam Kazim (peace be upon him): When a believing servant becomes sick, Allah reveals to the angel of the left: "Do not write any sin against My servant so long as he is in My bond and confinement," and He reveals to the angel of the right: "Write for My servant whatever good deeds you used to write for him during his health."

The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family): Allah, the Mighty and Majestic, revealed to the noble keepers [the guardian angels]: "Do not write anything against My believing servant when he is distressed."

The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family): Indeed Allah counts and records everything that issues from the servant, even his moaning in his illness. And the witness to this is the noble verses of the Qur'an in which He says: ما یَلْفِظُ مِنْ قَوْلٍ إِلَّا لَدَیْهِ رَقِیبٌ عَتِیدٌ [A person does not utter any word except that there is with him, at that very moment, a watcher, ready (to record it)!] (Qaf/18), and وَ إِنَّ عَلَیْکُمْ لَحافِظِینَ، کِراماً کاتِبِینَ، یَعْلَمُونَ ما تَفْعَلُونَ [And most surely there are keepers over you, honourable recorders, they know what you do].

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him) said: People did not see Allah the Blessed and Exalted speaking in secret to the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) and addressing him, and they did not witness the revelation. Yet it was obligatory upon them to acknowledge the unseen which they did not see and to affirm the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) in that. Allah the Mighty and Majestic has informed us in His Book that none of us utters a word except that there is with him a raqib (watcher) and atid (ready recorder), and Allah the Mighty and Majestic said: وَ إِنَّ عَلَیْکُمْ لَحَافِظِینَ، کِرَامًا کَاتِبِینَ، یَعْلَمُونَ ما تَفْعَلُونَ [And indeed there are keepers over you, noble recorders, who know what you do]. We have not seen them and have not witnessed them, and if we do not affirm that, we are outside of Islam and have rejected the word of Allah the Exalted, whose remembrance is high.

The Prophet (peace be upon him and his family): Clean your mouths with a toothpick, for the mouth is the dwelling of the two angels who record your deeds. Their ink is saliva and their pen is the tongue, and nothing is worse for them than food remnants left in the mouth.

The Prophet (peace be upon him and his family): There are four traits — whoever has them in him will not perish before Allah after them except one who deserves to perish: a servant intends a good deed and does it — and if he does not do it, Allah writes for him one good deed on account of his good intention, and if he does it, Allah writes for him ten; and he intends an evil deed to do it — and if he does not do it, nothing is written against him, and if he does it, he is given a respite of seven hours, and the angel in charge of good deeds says to the angel in charge of evil deeds, who is on the left: 'Do not hasten. Perhaps he will follow it with a good deed that will erase it — for Allah the Mighty and Majestic says: إِنَّ الْحَسَناتِ یُذْهِبْنَ السَّیِّئاتِ [Indeed, good deeds remove evil deeds (and their effects)] (Hud/114) — or he will seek forgiveness.' So if he says: أَسْتَغْفِرُ اللهَ الَّذِی لَا إِلَهَ إِلَّا هُوَ عَالِمَ الْغَیْبِ وَ الشَّهَادَةِ الْعَزِیزَ الحَکِیمَ الْغَفُورَ الرَّحِیمَ ذَا الْجَلَالِ وَ الْإِکْرَامِ وَ أَتُوبُ إِلَیْهِ [I seek forgiveness of Allah, other than whom there is no god, the Knower of the unseen and the seen, the Mighty, the Wise, the Forgiving, the Merciful, Possessor of Majesty and Honour, and I turn to Him in repentance], nothing is written against him. And if seven hours pass and he does not follow it with a good deed [and does not do any good work] nor seeks forgiveness, the angel of good deeds says to the angel of evil deeds: 'Write [the sin] against this wretched one who is deprived [of good].'

Imam Baqir (peace be upon him): Whoever loves to walk in the manner of the noble recorders (Kiram al-Katibin) in escorting a funeral bier should walk on the two sides of the deceased's shoulders.

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): It is narrated from Mufaddal ibn Umar: I asked Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): "What is the reason for the obligation of the salam in prayer?" He said: "Because the salam is the release from prayer — that is, with the salam all the things forbidden and prohibited during prayer become permitted." I said: "Why is the salam given to the right side and not to the left?" He said: "Because the angel appointed to record good deeds is on the right side, and the angel appointed to record bad deeds is on the left side, and prayer is among good deeds and there is no bad deed in it, so the salam must be given to the right side and not to the left." I said: "Why is it not said 'as-salamu alayka', since the angel on the right is a single one, but instead 'as-salamu alaykum' is said?" He said: "So that the salam is upon the angel on the right and also upon the angel on the left, except that since the angel on the right is more excellent than the angel on the left, the gesture and indication in the salam is made toward the right side." I said: "Why, at the time of salam, does one not gesture with the whole face — rather, if the worshipper is praying alone he must gesture with the nose, and if he is praying with a congregation, with the eye?" He said: "Because the place of these two angels is at the two corners of a person's mouth, in such a way that the angel of the right is at the right corner of the mouth and the angel of the left is at the left corner of the mouth; and the worshipper gives salam to the angel of the right because that angel records and registers the prayer in his book of deeds." I said: "Why does the follower (mamum) give three salams?" He said: "One is the returning of the salam to the imam — in this salam the follower's intention is the salam upon the imam and upon the two angels appointed over him (the imam). The second salam is upon the one seated in the row to his right and upon the two angels appointed over that person, and the third salam is upon the person in the row to his left and upon the two angels appointed over him. And if there is no one on his left side, he should not give the third salam to the left side — unless his right side is toward a wall and on his left side is a worshipper, both of them praying behind the imam, in which case he is required to give the salam to his left." I said: "Then upon whom does the imam of the congregation give salam?" He said: "Upon the two angels appointed over himself and also upon the followers. In the salam upon the two angels he says: 'Record the soundness and safety of my prayer for anyone who has corrupted his prayer,' and in the salam upon the followers he says: 'May you remain safe and secure from the punishment of Allah, the Mighty and Majestic.'"

The Prophet (peace be upon him and his family): Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him) said: The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) said: "O Abbas! Do not say that about Ali (peace be upon him)! I met Jibra'il just before this, and he said to me: 'The two angels appointed over Ali (peace be upon him) met me a moment ago and said: From the day Ali (peace be upon him) was born until today, we have not recorded any sin against him.'"

The Prophet (peace be upon him and his family): The two angels who are appointed over the preservation and recording of the deeds of Ali ibn Abi Talib (peace be upon him) take pride, over the rest of the angels who are appointed over the preservation and recording of the deeds of other people, that they are the recorders of Ali's (peace be upon him) deeds. For that noble one, throughout his life, never performed a single deed that would cause the wrath, anger or displeasure of Allah.