Forbidding, Denial, two angels questioning in the grave
كَانُوا لَا يَتَنَاهَوْنَ عَنْ مُنْكَرٍ فَعَلُوهُ ۚ لَبِئْسَ مَا كَانُوا يَفْعَلُونَ {79}
They were not ‘مُنْكَرٍ’ forbidding from evil they were doing. Evil was what they were doing [5:79]
العياشي: عن محمد بن الهيثم التميمي، عن أبي عبد الله (عليه السلام)، في قوله: كانُوا لا يَتَناهَوْنَ عَنْ مُنكَرٍ فَعَلُوهُ لَبِئْسَ ما كانُوا يَفْعَلُونَ، قال: «أما إنهم لم يكونوا يدخلون مداخلهم، و لا يجلسون مجالسهم، و لكن كانوا إذا لقوهم ضحكوا في وجوههم و أنسوا بهم
Al Ayyashi, from Muhammad Bin Al Haysam Al Tamimy,
(It has been narrated) from Abu Abdullah-asws regarding His-azwj Words They were not forbidding from evil they were doing. Evil was what they were doing [5:79], said: ‘But they were not including themselves in their affairs, nor were they seating in their gatherings, but whenever they met them, they used to laugh with them in their faces and were cordial them’.[1]
مُحَمَّدُ بْنُ يَحْيَى عَنْ أَحْمَدَ بْنِ مُحَمَّدِ بْنِ عِيسَى عَنِ الْحَسَنِ بْنِ عَلِيٍّ عَنْ غَالِبِ بْنِ عُثْمَانَ عَنْ بَشِيرٍ الدَّهَّانِ عَنْ أَبِي عَبْدِ اللَّهِ ( عليه السلام ) قَالَ يَجِيءُ الْمَلَكَانِ مُنْكَرٌ وَ نَكِيرٌ إِلَى الْمَيِّتِ حِينَ يُدْفَنُ أَصْوَاتُهُمَا كَالرَّعْدِ الْقَاصِفِ وَ أَبْصَارُهُمَا كَالْبَرْقِ الْخَاطِفِ يَخُطَّانِ الْأَرْضَ بِأَنْيَابِهِمَا وَ يَطَئَانِ فِي شُعُورِهِمَا فَيَسْأَلَانِ الْمَيِّتَ مَنْ رَبُّكَ وَ مَا دِينُكَ
Muhammad Bin Yahya, from Ahmad Bin Muhammad, from Isa, from Al Hassan Bin Ali, from Ghalib Bin Usman, from Bashir Al Dahhan,
(It has been narrated) from Abu Abdullah-asws having said: ‘The two Angels, Munkar and Nakeer, come over to the deceased when he is buried, their voices being like echoing thunder, and their eyes being like quick lightning, piercing the ground with their canines, and trampling in their hair, so they are questioning the deceased: ‘Who is your Lord-azwj, and what is your Religion?’
قَالَ فَإِذَا كَانَ مُؤْمِناً قَالَ اللَّهُ رَبِّي وَ دِينِيَ الْإِسْلَامُ فَيَقُولَانِ لَهُ مَا تَقُولُ فِي هَذَا الرَّجُلِ الَّذِي خَرَجَ بَيْنَ ظَهْرَانَيْكُمْ فَيَقُولُ أَ عَنْ مُحَمَّدٍ رَسُولِ اللَّهِ ( صلى الله عليه وآله ) تَسْأَلَانِي فَيَقُولَانِ لَهُ تَشْهَدُ أَنَّهُ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ فَيَقُولُ أَشْهَدُ أَنَّهُ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ فَيَقُولَانِ لَهُ نَمْ نَوْمَةً لَا حُلُمَ فِيهَا وَ يُفْسَحُ لَهُ فِي قَبْرِهِ تِسْعَةَ أَذْرُعٍ وَ يُفْتَحُ لَهُ بَابٌ إِلَى الْجَنَّةِ وَ يَرَى مَقْعَدَهُ فِيهَا
He-asws said: ‘If he was a Believer, he would say, ‘Allah-azwj is my Lord-azwj, and my Religion is Al-Islam’. So they are saying to him: ‘What you are saying regarding this man who (has) appeared between you (and us)?’ So he is saying, ‘Is it about Muhammad-saww, Rasool-Allah-saww that you are questioning me?’ So they are saying, ‘Testify that he is Rasool-Allah-saww’. So he is saying, ‘I testify that he-saww is Rasool-Allah-saww’. So they are saying to him: ‘Sleep a sleep in which there are no dreams’, and they expand thirty cubits for him in his grave, and open for him a Door to the Paradise, and he sees his seat therein.
وَ إِذَا كَانَ الرَّجُلُ كَافِراً دَخَلَا عَلَيْهِ وَ أُقِيمَ الشَّيْطَانُ بَيْنَ يَدَيْهِ عَيْنَاهُ مِنْ نُحَاسٍ فَيَقُولَانِ لَهُ مَنْ رَبُّكَ وَ مَا دِينُكَ وَ مَا تَقُولُ فِي هَذَا الرَّجُلِ الَّذِي قَدْ خَرَجَ مِنْ بَيْنَ ظَهْرَانَيْكُمْ فَيَقُولُ لَا أَدْرِي فَيُخَلِّيَانِ بَيْنَهُ وَ بَيْنَ الشَّيْطَانِ فَيُسَلِّطُ عَلَيْهِ فِي قَبْرِهِ تِسْعَةً وَ تِسْعِينَ تِنِّيناً لَوْ أَنَّ تِنِّيناً وَاحِداً مِنْهَا نَفَخَ فِي الْأَرْضِ مَا أَنْبَتَتْ شَجَراً أَبَداً وَ يُفْتَحُ لَهُ بَابٌ إِلَى النَّارِ وَ يَرَى مَقْعَدَهُ فِيهَا
And if he was the Infidel man, they both come over to him, and the Satan-la stands in front of him, his-la eyes being (the colour of) of brass, so they are saying to him: ‘Who is your Lord-azwj, and what is your Religion, and what are you saying regarding this man who has appeared between you (and us)’. So he is saying, ‘I do not know’. So they both leave him with the Satan-la who then will expose him to ninety-nine snakes (the size of dragons) in his grave, such that if one of these were to blow in the earth, no tree would grow, ever! And they open for him a Door to the Fire, and he sees his seat therein.[2]
[1] تفسير العيّاشي 1: 335/ 161
[2] Al Kafi V 3 – The Book Of Funerals CH 86 H 7