نَحنُ قَدَّرنا بَينَكُمُ المَوتَ وَما نَحنُ بِمَسبوقينَ

We have ordained death among you, and We are not to be outmanoeuvred.

EXPOSITION

The fact that We have ordained death among you shows that the affairs and rules of creation is in Our hands and not yours. Imam Ali (a) says: ‘Know that indeed the owner of death is the same as the owner of life.’^{‎[1]Nahj, letter 31.} Moreover, death is only one example of how We can limit or terminate your life, otherwise you are under Our full control from when you are a sperm cell until you die. For example, We give the foetus any shape or quality that We wish (3:6); We can leave the foetus incomplete or make it deformed (22:5); We determine how long it will stay in the womb (13:8, 35:11); We make some of you die at young age (22:5, 40:67); and even if you live long We will take away your strength and knowledge (16:70, 22:5, 30:54, 36:68).

Another implication of We have ordained death among you is that not only your life and creation is by God’s will, but your death is also due to His ordinance. In other words, it is not that He wants you to live eternally but then death comes in between and withholds Him from His will, but rather, death is also a part of His will. Therefore, He is not overpowered by anything in any way: Allah is not to be thwarted by anything in the heavens or on the earth. Indeed He is all-knowing, all-powerful (35:44). Hence, death is specifically ordained and set by God among mankind, as opposed to being an essential property of any living thing regardless of God’s ordinance.^{‎[2]Mizan, 19/132-133.}

Further, God is not outstripped or outmanoeuvred by His own creation or design. He is not like an architect that once He builds a structure there remains no tie between Him and what He created. In other words, His hands are wide open, not tied up (5:64). He has ordained death among His creatures – something that mankind has no resolution against but to submit and succumb. Imam Ali (a) praises God as follows: ‘O He who has dominated His servants by death and perishing.’^{‎[3]Duʿāʾ al-Ṣabāḥ.}

There are a few factors that make death a distinctively special event: 1. It is destined for every living soul (3:185, 21:34-35, 23:25, 29:57, 39:30). 2. It can occur at any time, place, or condition, all of which are unknown to people (31:34). 3. It cannot be overcome by anyone or any force. Imam Ali (a) has beautifully described this factor by the following statement: ‘If anyone were to find a way to everlasting subsistence, it would have been Solomon, the son of David, for all mankind and jinn were under his kingdom, not to mention his prophethood and proximity [to God]. Yet, once he had fully received his sustenance and had completed his days, the arch of expiration fired the arrow of death at him … and others inherited him.’^{‎[4]Nahj, sermon 182.}

[1] Nahj, letter 31.
[2] Mizan, 19/132-133.
[3] Duʿāʾ al-Ṣabāḥ.
[4] Nahj, sermon 182.