instant. One is in the East and one is in the West. How is the Angel of Death able to attend to both?

He said: The capability of the Angel of Death over the people of the Easts and the Wests, the darkness, the air, and the seas, is no different than a man who has a table before him, taking from any part of it that he wishes (1).

17830 - From Zuhair ibn Muhammad (may Allah be pleased with him) who said: It was said: O Messenger of Allah, the Angel of Death is one, yet two armies meet from the East and the West, with all the falling and destruction that occurs between them! He replied: Allah has folded the world for the Angel of Death until He made it like a tray before one of you; so does anything of it escape him? (2).

17831 - Ka'b al-Ahbar said: By Allah, there is no house that contains anyone from the people of this world but that the Angel of Death stands at its door seven times every day, looking to see if there is anyone in it who has been commanded to have his soul taken (3).

17832 - From Abu Ja'far Muhammad ibn Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) who said: The Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) entered upon a man from the Ansar to visit him, and there was the Angel of Death (peace be upon him) at his head. The Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) said: O Angel of Death, be gentle with my companion, for he is a believer. He said: Rejoice, O Muhammad, for I am gentle with every believer. And know, O Muhammad, that I take the soul of the son of Adam, and his family screams, so I stand in a corner of the house and say: By Allah, I have no sin in this, and I have a return and a return—beware, beware. There is not a single household created by Allah—whether made of clay, hair, or fur—on land or sea, but that I examine them five times every day and night, until I know their young and old better than they know themselves. By Allah, O Muhammad, I do not have the power to take the soul of a mosquito until Allah, Blessed and Exalted is He, is the One who commands it to be taken (4).

His saying: And if you could but see when the criminals are hanging their heads before their Lord, "Our Lord, we have seen and heard."

17833 - From Qatada (may Allah be pleased with him) regarding His saying: And if you could but see when the criminals are hanging their heads before their Lord, "Our Lord, we have seen and heard,"