The Barrier Between Worlds
Barzakh and the grave — the liminal space between death and resurrection
26 verse references across 24 surahs
And thus have We willed you to be a community of the middle way, so that [with your lives] you might bear witness to the truth before all mankind, and that the Apostle might bear witness to it before you. And it is only to the end that We might make a clear distinction between those who follow the Apostle and those who turn about on their heels that We have appointed [for this community] the direction of prayer which thou [O Prophet] hast formerly observed: for this was indeed a hard test for all but those whom God has guided aright. But God will surely not lose sight of your faith - for, behold, God is most compassionate towards man, a dispenser of grace.
and do not touch the substance of an orphan - save to improve it - before he comes of age." And [in all your dealings] give full measure and weight, with equity: [however,] We do not burden any human being with more than he is well able to bear; and when you voice an opinion, be just, even though it be [against] one near of kin. And [always] observe your bond with God:153 this has He enjoined upon you, so that you might keep it in mind.
And never shalt thou pray over any of them that has died, and never shalt thou stand by his grave:116 for, behold, they were bent on denying God and His Apostle, and they died in this their iniquity.
CALL THOU (all mankind] unto thy Sustainer's path with wisdom and goodly exhortation, and argue with them in the most kindly manner - for, behold, thy Sustainer knows best as to who strays from His path, and best knows He as to who are the right-guided.
And never concern thyself with anything of which thou hast no knowledge:45 verily, [thy] hearing and sight and heart - all of them - will be called to account for it [on Judgment Day]!
They said: "O thou Two-Horned One! Behold, Gog and Magog are spoiling this land. May we, then, pay unto thee a tribute on the understanding that thou wilt erect a barrier between us and them?"
And [know, O man] that the Last Hour is bound to come, beyond any doubt, and that God will [indeed] resurrect all who are in their graves.
so that I might act righteously in whatever I have failed [aforetime]!" Nay, it is indeed but a [meaningless] word that he utters: for behind those [who leave the world] there is a barrier [of death] until the Day when all will be raised from the dead!
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AND HE it is who has given freedom of movement to the two great bodies of water - the one sweet and thirstallaying, and the other salty and bitter - and yet has wrought between them a barrier and a forbidding ban.
and who, whenever they spend on others, are neither wasteful nor niggardly but [remember that] there is always a just mean between those [two extremes];
And do not argue with the followers of earlier revelation otherwise than in a most kindly manner - unless it be such of them as are bent on evildoing - and say: "We believe in that which has been bestowed from on high upon us, as well as that which has been bestowed upon you: for our God and your God is one and the same, and it is unto Him that We [all] surrender ourselves."
And so, a barrier will be set between them and all that they had [ever] desired, as will be done to such of their kind as lived before their time: for, behold, they [too were lost in doubt amounting to suspicion.
and neither are equal the living and the dead [of heart]. Behold, [O Muhammad] God can make hear whomever He wills, whereas thou canst not make hear such as are [dead of heart like the dead] in their graves:
and We have set a barrier before them and a barrier behind them, and We have enshrouded them in veils so that they cannot see:
And [then] the trumpet [of resurrection] will be blown - and lo! out of their graves towards their Sustainer will they all rush forth!
O you who have attained to faith! Avoid most guesswork [about one another] - for, behold, some of [such] guesswork is [in itself] a sin; and do not spy upon one another, and neither allow yourselves to speak ill of one another behind your backs. Would any of you like to eat the flesh of his dead brother? Nay, you would loathe it! And be conscious of God. Verily, God is an acceptor of repentance, a dispenser of grace!
As for those who avoid the [truly] grave sins and shameful deeds even though they may sometimes stumble - behold, thy Sustainer is abounding in forgiveness. He is fully aware of you when He brings you into being out of dust, and when you are still hidden in your mothers' wombs: do not, then, consider yourselves pure - [for] He knows best as to who is conscious of Him.
they will come forth from their graves, with their eyes downcast, [swarming about] like locusts scattered [by the wind],
[yet] between them is a barrier which they may not transgress.
O YOU who have attained to faith! Be not friends with people whom God has condemned! They [who would befriend them] are indeed bereft of all hope of a life to come - just as those deniers of the truth are bereft of all hope of [ever again seeing] those who are [now] in their graves. 1 Lit., "and your enemies" - implying that people who deliberately reject God's messages are ipso facto inimical to those who believe in them. 2 Historically, this is a reference to the forced emigration of the Prophet and his followers from Mecca to Medina. In a more general sense, however, it is an allusion to the potential persecution of believers of all times by "those who are bent on denying the truth", i.e., those who are averse to religious beliefs as such. 3 As is shown in verses 7-9, this prohibition of taking unbelievers for friends relates only to such of them as are actively hostile towards the believers (cf. 58:22 and the corresponding note).
the Day when they shall come forth in haste from their graves, as if racing towards a goal-post,
the living and the dead?
and in the end He causes him to die and brings him to the grave;
and when the graves are overturned
But does he not know that [on the Last Day,] when all that is in the graves is raised and brought out,
until you go down to your graves.