Surah Qaaf: Verse 21 - وجاءت كل نفس معها سائق... - English

And there will come forth every soul: with each will be an (angel) to drive, and an (angel) to bear witness. (21)

Two Angels to Lead Man to the Plane of Hashr

وَجَاءَتْ كُلُّ نَفْسٍ مَّعَهَا سَائِقٌ وَشَهِيدٌ (And everybody will come, along with one [ angel ] to drive [ him to the field of reckoning ] and one [ angel ] to testify [ about his deeds ] 50:21). The verse before this depicts the way the Day of Judgment will be established. This verse describes the way in which all human beings will be brought to the plane of Hashr. With every man there will be a Sa'iq and a Shahid. Sa'iq, literally, denotes a person who remains behind a herd of animals or behind a group of people and drives them to a particular place. And Shahid refers to a witness. As for Sa'iq, by the consensus of traditions, it refers to an angel. But there are different views of scholars of Tafsir regarding Shahid. Some say that it too refers to an angel. In this way, there are two angels - Sa'iq and Shahid. Sa'iq's duty is to drive the people to the gathering place, and Shahid's task is to bear witness when the people's deeds will be presented. Another possible interpretation is that these two angels refer to the "honorable scribes" who used to accompany human beings all the time in the world on the right and left to record their deeds. A third possibility is that they refer to some other angels besides the ones mentioned here.

Some scholars interpret Shahid as referring to man's action, and other scholars think that the reference is to man himself. Ibn Kathir opines that the apparent context of the verse indicates that Shahid is also an angel who will bear witness to man's actions. Sayyidna ` Uthman Ibn ` Affan ؓ whilst delivering a sermon recited this verse and said: "Sa` iq will drive every person to Allah, and Shahid will testify about what one has done." Interpreters like Sayyidna Mujahid, Qatadah and Ibn Zaid ؓ placed the same interpretation on the two names. Ibn Jarir has preferred this interpretation.

(21)