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Azrael, Angel of Death, is one of Islams four archangels. He is forever writing and erasing from his book of human lives. With his four thousand wings and seventy thousand feet, he is a sight to behold. He has eyes and tongues enough for every man and woman in the world. A blink of one of those eyes tells the death of one on the earth.
Before the creation of man, according to Islamic belief, Azrael (or Izrail) was the only angel brave enough to go down to the earth and face Iblis, the devil, in order to retrieve the needed materials for Allah to make man. For this, he was made responsible for separating soul from body. However, Azrael does not know when a person will die. Only when a leaf from the tree under Allahs throne falls bearing the name of the man does the angel know. He then has forty days in which to complete his job. Azrael, however, is not eternal. He will die one day, also. He will be the last of Allahs creatures to die. This will be when the horn is blown on Judgment Day.
And thus, we are left to wait to be carried on the wings of Azrael and live our short lives as best as we can. We have been writ; we shall be erased. Until such a time, my friends, I bid thee adieu and leave thee with a work by Robert Gilbert Welsh, entitled "Azrael."
The angels in high places
Who minister to us,
Reflect God's smile, -- their faces
Are luminous;
Save one, whose face is hidden,
(The Prophet saith),
The unwelcome, the unbidden,
Azrael, Angel of Death.
And yet that veiled face, I know
Is lit with pitying eyes,
Like those faint stars, the first to glow
Through cloudy winter skies.
That they may never tire,
Angels, by God's decree,
Bear wings of snow and fire, --
Passion and purity;
Save one, all unavailing,
(The Prophet saith),
His wings are gray and trailing,
Azrael, Angel of Death.
And yet the souls that Azrael brings
Across the dark and cold,
Look up beneath those folded wings,
And find them lined with gold.
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