وَجَآءَتْ كُلُّ نَفْسٍ مَّعَهَا سَآئِقٌ وَشَهِيدٌ 21
Translations
And every soul will come, with it a driver and a witness.
Transliteration
Wa jaʾat kullu nafsin maʿaha sāʾiq wa shahīd
Tafsir (Explanation)
On the Day of Judgment, every soul will come forward accompanied by two angels: a sāʾiq (driver/guide) who pushes it forward and a shahīd (witness) who testifies to its deeds. According to Ibn Kathir and Al-Tabari, the sāʾiq represents the angel assigned to drive the soul to its destined place, while the shahīd is the angel who recorded all of its actions in life, ensuring complete accountability before Allah. This ayah emphasizes the divine order and precision with which souls are brought to account, with no soul left unattended or unwitnessed.
Revelation Context
This ayah is part of Surah Qaf, a Meccan chapter that focuses on themes of resurrection, accountability, and the Day of Judgment. The broader context (50:16-45) describes the scenes of the afterlife and divine justice, establishing the certainty of the resurrection and the detailed recording of human deeds by the recording angels (kirām al-kātibīn).
Related Hadiths
The Prophet (ﷺ) said: 'For every person there are angels in succession, some by night and some by day, and they all assemble at the time of Fajr and ʿAsr prayers. Those who have spent the night with you ascend to heaven, and their Lord asks them—though He knows better—How did you leave My servants? They reply: We left them while they were praying, and we came to them while they were praying.' (Sahih Bukhari 3223). Also relevant is the concept of the two recording angels mentioned in 50:17-18.
Themes
Key Lesson
This ayah reminds believers that no action goes unrecorded and that each soul will face complete accountability with perfect witnesses, should inspire conscious living and awareness that Allah's justice is comprehensive and inescapable. It offers both a warning against heedlessness and comfort that the righteous will be justly rewarded, as their deeds have been faithfully documented.