وَقيلَ مَن ۜ راقٍ

And it is said: ‘Who will take him up?’

EXEGESIS

Rāq (one who takes up) is the truncated form of rāqī, which is the active participle of raqiya, meaning the one who lifts up. It is from the same root as tarāqī in the previous verse.^{‎[1]Raghib, p. 363, r-q-y.} Another meaning for rāqī is the one who recites incantations (ruqyah) to heal the dying person, by, for example, invoking the names of God, such as saying bismillāhi arqīka.^{‎[2]Tibyan, 10/200; Razi, 30/734; Nemuneh, 25/308. See also ʿAbd al-Fattāḥ al-Ṣaʿīdī, al-Ifṣāḥ fī Fiqh al-Lughah (Cairo: Dār al-Kutub al-Miṣriyyah, 1929), 1/549.} This by extension has been used to refer to a doctor.

EXPOSITION

This verse has been interpreted in two different ways which are not mutually exclusive.^{‎[3]Mizan, 20/113.} The first interpretation sets the scene among the dying person’s family and friends, and holds that they utter these words in a state of utter desperation, asking: ‘Who can recite a healing incantation (ruqyah) over him or which doctor can cure him?’ It is a final, futile cry for a worldly solution when death is certain. The second interpretation posits that the query is celestial, with some angels saying to others: ‘Who will take his spirit upward, the angels of mercy or the angels of punishment?’^{‎[4]This opinion is attributed to Ibn Abbas and Muqātil ibn Sulaymān. See Tibyan, 10/200; Tabrisi, 10/605; Tabari, 29/121.} Certainly, the angels who ask the question are not the angels who are tasked with taking the dying man’s soul. It should not be understood as a debate amongst the angels as to who should take the soul, as some have claimed (saying that the angels dislike taking the soul of the sinful), since every angel has predetermined tasks – There is none among us but has a known place (37:164) – and they do not disobey the orders they are given, who do not disobey whatever Allah has commanded them, and carry out what they are commanded (66:6). Indeed, even human beings would rarely behave in this manner in such serious situations. Certainly, some time prior to the actual moment of death, the angels tasked with taking a person’s soul would be informed and would arrive in a timely manner to collect it. This question is hence one posed out of curiosity by some angels witnessing the moment of death, wondering what fate awaits that person.

In any case, this view understands the verb raqiya in its sense of ‘ascending’, describing the moment as a decisive transfer of the soul to the other world, rather than a human plea for a cure. As said before, these two meanings are not mutually exclusive since one looks at the dying person from the earthly side, while the other looks at him from the celestial side; although the first one is more fitting given the next verse that follows. The first interpretation is similar to the set of verses in Sūrat al-Wāqiʿah: So when it reaches the throat [of the dying person]; and at that moment you are looking on [at his bedside] – and We are nearer to him than you are, though you do not perceive – then why do you not restore it, if you are not subject [to the divine dispensation], should you be truthful? (56:83-87). That means once God has decreed death for a person, no one can affect any change in that decree, Indeed when Allah’s [appointed] time comes, it cannot be deferred (71:4).

The usage of the same root for tarāqī and rāq is not only eloquent, it also adds a flavour of irony to the verse. While the people gathered around cry out Who will take him up, the soul is already ascending up, though you do not perceive. It underscores the futility of this plea, as the soul is leaving and beyond the reach of worldly healers.

We should also note the saktah (brief pause) mandated after the word man,^{‎[5]As per the recitation of Ḥafs. Apparently, because the idghām between the nūn of man and rāʾ of rāq should be avoided here so that it should not be pronounced marrāq, which means the one who sells marqah (stock sauce for food). See Qurtubi, 19/112; Muhit, 10/352.} which results in the reciter placing a more noticeable emphasis on the final, isolated word rāq. This creates the effect of the verse mimicking the desperate plea of the family member whose loved one is on their deathbed, shouting, hopelessly calling out ‘help!’ to anyone nearby to save the life of their beloved.

INSIGHTS FROM HADITH

1. From Jābir ibn Yazīd al-Juʿfī, that he asked Imam al-Bāqir (a) regarding the verses And it is said: ‘Who will take him up?’ And he knows that it is the [time of] parting. The Imam replied: ‘That is the son of Adam – when death descends upon him, he says: “Is there any physician [to save me]?”’^{‎[6]Kafi, 3/259; Nur, 5/465.}

INSIGHTS FROM OTHER TRADITIONS

1. ‘When their spirit departs, they return to the ground; on that very day their plans come to nothing.’^{‎[7]Psalms 146:4.}

[1] Raghib, p. 363, r-q-y.
[2] Tibyan, 10/200; Razi, 30/734; Nemuneh, 25/308. See also ʿAbd al-Fattāḥ al-Ṣaʿīdī, al-Ifṣāḥ fī Fiqh al-Lughah (Cairo: Dār al-Kutub al-Miṣriyyah, 1929), 1/549.
[3] Mizan, 20/113.
[4] This opinion is attributed to Ibn Abbas and Muqātil ibn Sulaymān. See Tibyan, 10/200; Tabrisi, 10/605; Tabari, 29/121.
[5] As per the recitation of Ḥafs. Apparently, because the idghām between the nūn of man and rāʾ of rāq should be avoided here so that it should not be pronounced marrāq, which means the one who sells marqah (stock sauce for food). See Qurtubi, 19/112; Muhit, 10/352.
[6] Kafi, 3/259; Nur, 5/465.
[7] Psalms 146:4.