The Ayah kullu nafsin zaikatul maut is mentioned thrice in the Quran. The three places where it is mentioned can be seen below:
كُلُّ نَفۡسٍ ذَآئِقَةُ ٱلۡمَوۡتِۗ وَإِنَّمَا تُوَفَّوۡنَ أُجُورَكُمۡ يَوۡمَ ٱلۡقِيَٰمَةِۖ فَمَن زُحۡزِحَ عَنِ ٱلنَّارِ وَأُدۡخِلَ ٱلۡجَنَّةَ فَقَدۡ فَازَۗ وَمَا ٱلۡحَيَوٰةُ ٱلدُّنۡيَآ إِلَّا مَتَٰعُ ٱلۡغُرُور
Every soul will taste death, and only on the Day of Resurrection will you be requited in full [for your deeds]. Whoever is saved from the fire and admitted to paradise will have triumphed, for the life of this world is nothing but a fleeting vanity.
كُلُّ نَفۡسٍ ذَآئِقَةُ ٱلۡمَوۡتِۗ وَنَبۡلُوكُم بِٱلشَّرِّ وَٱلۡخَيۡرِ فِتۡنَةًۖ وَإِلَيۡنَا تُرۡجَعُونَ
Every soul will taste death. And We test you with evil and with good as trial; and to Us you will be returned.
كُلُّ نَفۡسٍ ذَآئِقَةُ ٱلۡمَوۡتِۖ ثُمَّ إِلَيۡنَا تُرۡجَعُونَ
Every soul will taste death. Then to Us will you be returned.
The life of Duniya is a beautiful deception for those who value it. A momin knows that this is a place of testing who is loyal to that promise which we the entire mankind made in front of Allah in ALAM -e- Arwah. To value duniya and the life in it is a sign of forgetting death- the ultimate truth. This ayah reminds us of death which is the real fate of all of us. Death will cut our connections with this world and everything and everyone in it.
Kullu Nafsin Zaikatul Maut Meaning in English
All of us know that when we die we leave all our wealth and our loved ones behind. Despite knowing this for sure every single day passes with struggling for the pleasures of this worldly life. Each day we worry about how to make our life better or more comfortable. Then we keep on working towards that goal. We spend hours worrying and working for this worthless goal.
The real goal of Momin must be the hereafter- the life to come. Each day how much do we spend to build our life in Akirah? How much do we prepare for it? How much do we worry about it? The profit and loss scale of a momin must be different from that of others who are heedless and careless about dying and meeting their lord.
Death is something that we must remember and ponder every single day every single moment. It is sort of a thing that must always be active in the back of our mind and this will ultimately help us make those little decisions every other moment.
For example: Should I backbite or not? should I lie to someone or not? Should I misbehave with my parents or not? Should I neglect my paper or not and so on….once we accept the fact that one day we need to die and give him all our deeds, the decisions we make become more fruitful for us. Being mindful of death becomes a driving force for us to value Akirah more than this Duniya.
Remember what the prophet (ﷺ) said
حُبُّ الدُّنْيَا رَأْسُ كُلِّ خَطِيئَةٍ
Love of the worldly life is the root of every sin.
Also, he said the calamities on my ummah at one time will be immense despite them being in large numbers because they will be inflicted with the disease of love of Duniya and fear of death
Hadith:
قَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ صَلَّى اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ: «يُوشِكُ الْأُمَمُ أَنْ تَدَاعَى عَلَيْكُمْ كَمَا تَدَاعَى الْأَكَلَةُ إِلَى قَصْعَتِهَا» . فَقَالَ قَائِلٌ: وَمِنْ قِلَّةٍ نَحْنُ يَوْمَئِذٍ؟ قَالَ: «بَلْ أَنْتُم يَوْمئِذٍ كثير وَلَكِن غُثَاءٌ كَغُثَاءِ السَّيْلِ وَلَيَنْزِعَنَّ اللَّهُ مِنْ صُدُورِ عَدُوِّكُمُ الْمَهَابَةَ مِنْكُمْ وَلَيَقْذِفَنَّ فِي قُلُوبِكُمُ الْوَهْنَ» . قَالَ قَائِلٌ: يَا رَسُولَ اللَّهِ وَمَا الْوَهْنُ؟ قَالَ: «حُبُّ الدُّنْيَا وَكَرَاهِيَةُ الْمَوْتِ»۔
The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: “Narrated Thawban: The Prophet صلی اللہ علیہ وسلم said: The people will soon summon one another to attack you as people when eating invite others to share their dish. Someone asked: Will that be because of our small numbers at that time? He replied: No, you will be numerous at that time: but you will be scum and rubbish like that carried down by a torrent, and Allah will take fear of you from the breasts of your enemy and last enervation into your hearts. Someone asked: What is wahn (enervation)? Messenger of Allah صلی اللہ علیہ وسلم: He replied: “Love of the world and dislike (hate) of death”. – Source: Sunan Abi Dawud 4297
The other lesson that we see in these ayahs tells us that the life of Duniya is short and will end for everyone who dies. So it should not put us in doubt that disbelievers have comforts of life and sometimes the difficulties only inflict the believers. This world is as mentioned in the second ayah a place of testing. If we are tested with calamities and hardships and we remain patient this will make our afterlife better. The main thing is to be saved from hell and to be admitted to heaven. To return to Allah is Haq and to give the hisab is also haq so the ones who live in the world as a traveller hoping for Allah’s mercy in the hereafter is the successful one. May Allah take away the love of Duniya from our hearts and replace it with the love of Allah, the consciousness of Akirah. May he ease and keep us steadfast during calamity and trials and may we return a successful return to our lord.
