'In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful' The Exalted said: "And if you could see when the angels take the souls of those who disbelieve, striking their faces and their backs, and [saying], 'Taste the punishment of the burning.'" "That is for what your own hands have sent before [to the Judgment], and indeed, Allah is not unjust to the servants." "[This is] like the custom of the people of Pharaoh and those before them. They denied the signs of Allah, so Allah seized them for their sins. Indeed, Allah is Exalted in Might and Severe in Punishment." This verse contains astonishment at what befell the disbelievers on the Day of Badr. This was said by Mujahid and others. In this is a warning for those who remain of them. The omission of the response to 'if' is a profound ambiguity. The majority of the seven reciters and the people read: 'takes' with a ya, so the action is attributed to a feminine in wording. This is permissible because the femininity is not real. The 'angels' is raised with 'takes.' Some who read this recitation said that the meaning is: when Allah takes the souls of those who disbelieve, and 'the angels' is a subject, and 'striking' is its predicate, and the sentence is in the position of a circumstantial phrase. Al-Qadi Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said: This interpretation is weakened by the absence of the waw of the circumstance, for it is usually required in such cases. Ibn Amer among the seven and Al-A'raj read: 'takes' with a ta, attributing it to the word 'angels,' and 'striking' is in the position of a circumstantial phrase. And His saying, Exalted is He: "and their backs," the majority of the commentators said: He means their rears. However, Allah is Generous and uses euphemisms. Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him, said: He meant their backs and what is behind them. The meaning of this is that the angels would pursue them in the state of turning away and strike their backs. As for in the state of approaching, it is clear that striking the faces is established. Al-Hasan narrated that a man said: O Messenger of Allah, I saw on the back of Abu Jahl something like a strap. The Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, said: 'That is the striking of the angels.'" He expressed it in the plural of angels, while the Angel of Death is singular as he has assistants among the angels. And His saying, Exalted is He: "And taste the punishment of the burning," it is said that they would say this to the disbelievers at that time. The phrase 'they say' was omitted for brevity. It is said that its meaning is: and their state on the Day of Resurrection is that it will be said to them this. The burning is a noun derived from burning. And His saying, Exalted is He: "That is for what your own hands have sent before [to the Judgment]," it is possible that this is from the saying of the angels at the time of taking their souls in the mentioned manner. It is possible that it is a new statement, a reprimand from Allah, Exalted and Majestic, to the disbelievers in their life and after their death. 'And that' can be in the position of a subject based on the estimation: and the ruling is that, and it can be in the position of a genitive case, connected to 'what' in His saying, glorified and exalted is He: "for what your own hands have sent before." Makkī and Al-Zahrāwī said: It can also be in the position of an accusative case by dropping the ba, and its estimation is: 'that' so when the ba was omitted, it became in the position of an accusative case. Al-Qadi Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said: This is not directed or clear except that it is made accusative by implying a verb. And His saying, Exalted is He: "Like the custom of the people of Pharaoh," the verse, 'custom' refers to the habit in the speech of the Arabs, and from it is the saying of Imru' al-Qais:

As the custom of Umm al-Huwairith before her, and her neighbor Umm al-Rabab in her calamity.

And it is narrated: as your religion, and from it is the saying of Khirash ibn Zuhair al-Amiri:

So that custom continued until Hawazin became weak and Sulaym and Amir were rejected.

And it is taken from: "He persisted in the work" if he adhered to it, and from it is his saying, blessings and peace be upon him, to the owner of the camel who approached him, having humbled and with tears in his eyes: "Indeed, he complained to me that you starve him and exhaust him." So it is as if the custom is a persistent one.

And Jaber ibn Zayd, Amir al-Sha'bi, Mujahid, and Ata said: The meaning is like the custom of the family of Pharaoh. It is possible that it is meant: like the custom of the family of Pharaoh and others, so that it would be the custom of nations in general, not of a single nation. For the family of Pharaoh did not disbelieve and were destroyed multiple times, but for every nation there is one destruction. It is also possible that what is meant is: like the custom of Allah concerning them, so he attributed the custom to them since they have a relation to it. The source is attributed to the doer and to the acted upon. The 'kaf' in his saying: "As the custom" may relate to his saying: "And taste," and in it is a distance. The 'kaf' here is in the position of an accusative adjective for a deleted source. It may also relate to his saying: "Your hands have sent forth," and its position is also - on this - accusative as previously mentioned. It is possible that the meaning of the speech is: the matter is like the custom of Pharaoh, so the 'kaf' is in the position of the subject's news. His saying: "So He seized them" means: He destroyed them and came upon them, by the evidence of his saying: "Because of their sins." Then he began to inform about the might of Allah, blessed and exalted is He, and the severity of His punishment.