The Mirror of the Excellences of Islam — Page 100
PREFACE ESSENCE OF ISLAM وَإِنَّ عَلَيْكُمْ لَحفِظِينَ يُرْسِلُ عَلَيْكُمْ حَفَظَةٌ لَهُ مُعَقِّبْتُ مِنْ بَيْنِ يَدَيْهِ وَ مِنْ خَلْفِهِ يَحْفَظُونَهُ مِنْ أَمْرِ اللَّهِ 3 99 The translation of these verses is as follows: There are appointed over you, for your protection, those whom God Almighty sends. They are guardians appointed by God Almighty who watch over His servants from every side; meaning, they safeguard them both physically and spiritually. In this context, the author of Ma'alim documents a hadith stat- ing that for every servant of Allah, an angel is appointed as a guardian, remaining with him and protecting him from satans and other evil entice- ments during his sleep and wakefulness. * He has also quoted another hadith with the same meaning from Ka'b al-Ahbār. Ibn Jarir quotes the following hadith in support of the aforementioned Quranic verse: 4 إِنَّ مَعَكُمْ مَنْ لَا يُفَارِقَكُمْ إِلَّا عِنْدَ الْخِلَاءِ وَعِنْدَ الْجِمَاعِ فَاسْتَحْيُوهُمْ وَأَكْرِمُوهُمْ. Meaning that there are angels who never leave you except when you attend to the call of nature or are engaged in intimacy. Therefore, feel bashful in their presence and give them due respect. In the same context is the following hadith narrated by 'Ikrimah that angels accom- pany man to protect him from every type of evil, but leave him when an irrevocable decree befalls him. ³ Similarly, it is narrated AUTHOR'S MARGIN NOTE Evidence from the Prophetic Aḥadīth of the fact that angels who inspire virtue and satans who incite vice undoubtedly remain with man 1. Surah al-Infiṭār, 82:11 [Publisher] 2. Surah al-An'am, 6:62 [Publisher] 3. Surah ar-Ra'd, 13:12 [Publisher] 4. Tafsirul-Baghawi, al-Juzw 3, p. 9, Surah ar-Ra'd, published by Idārah Ta’līfāt Ashrafiyyah, Multan, Pakistan. [Publisher] 5. Tafsirut-Ṭabari, Juzw 13, p. 139, Surah ar-Ra'd, published by Där Iḥya' at- Turāth al-'Arabi, Beirut, Lebanon. [Publisher]