The examples from verses of the Qur’an and hadith mentioned above fully ascertain that when Tawaffā has Allah Almighty as the Doer (Fa'il) and a human as the object (Maf‘ool), its meaning is the capture of the soul, that is, death. In this case, this verb cannot have any other meanings. Against this reasoning, an objection is raised that there are two instances in the Qur’an where Allah Almighty is the Doer of Tawaffā and human beings are the object. Yet despite this, the verb does not convey the meaning of death. It is instead used in the context of sleep, which is a state of life. These two instances are as follows:
وَهُوَ الَّذِيْ يَتَوَفّٰىكُمْ بِالَّيْلِ وَيَعْلَمُ مَا جَرَحْتُمْ بِالنَّهَارِ...
It is He Who claims your souls at night and also knows what you do during the day…(6:60)
اَللّٰهُ يَتَوَفَّي الْاَنْفُسَ حِيْنَ مَوْتِهَا وَالَّتِيْ لَمْ تَمُتْ فِيْ مَنَامِهَا....
In reality, it is God Who claims souls when their time of death arrives and those whose time of death has not come, He claims them similarly in the state of sleep… (39:42)
As per Javed Ahmed Ghamidi, it is incorrect to interpret the word here as being used in the sense of sleep. In this instance as well, the word is used in the exact same sense of ‘capturing the soul,’ as it has been used in Surah Aale Imran and other previously mentioned references.
As explained earlier, when the act of Tawaffā is described in a context where Allah is the subject (the doer) and a human being is the object, it signifies the capture of the soul. Death and sleep are two distinct outcomes of this act of soul capture. Therefore, in such usage, the direct meaning of Tawaffā is not death itself but rather the act that leads to it. Its fundamental meaning is, without a doubt, the capture of the soul.
The above verses of Surah Al-An‘am and Surah Az-Zumar make it clear that in both situations, death and sleep, the soul is captured and goes into the custody of Allah Almighty. The difference is that in the case of sleep, it is returned and the person wakes up, whereas at the time of death, it is not returned and the person does not wake until the Day of Resurrection. The distinction between wakefulness and non-wakefulness is from the standpoint of our observation. The true nature of this distinction falls among the matters of the unseen, hence beyond our comprehension and perceptions.
The summary of this discussion is that when tawaffā is used in the context of an act of Allah Almighty, its sole meaning will be the capture of life. However, depending on the outcome, it will be applied in two different ways: one related to death and the other related to sleep. Thus, tawaffā in the sense of capturing life holds a common aspect in both manifestations. Due to this commonality, sometimes the terms sleep and death are used interchangeably. This is not just a similarity in concept or appearance, but also in the actual event. The words for death used for sleep in the following morning supplication taught by the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, are based on this reason:
الحمد للّٰه الذي أحيانا بعد ما أماتنا وإليه النشور.
Praise be to Allah, who has granted us life after death and to whom we shall return one day. (Bukhari No. 6312)
Thus, when tawaffā is used for sleep, it should not be considered a metaphorical use of death. It is the actual use of this word, meaning the capture of the soul.
This can be understood from the use of the word ahyāʾun (اَحْيَاء) in the following verses of Surah Al-Baqarah and Surah Aale Imran:
وَلَاتَقُوْلُوْا لِمَنْ يُّقْتَلُ فِيْ سَبِيْلِ اللّٰهِ اَمْوَاتٌ بَلْ اَحْيَآءٌ وَّلٰكِنْ لَّا تَشْعُرُوْنَ
And do not say that those slain in [this] cause of God are dead; they are not dead; in fact, they are alive, but you are not aware [of the manner in which they live]. (2:154)
وَلَا تَحْسَبَنَّ الَّذِيْنَ قُتِلُوْا فِيْ سَبِيْلِ اللّٰهِ اَمْوَاتًا بَلْ اَحْيَآءٌ عِنْدَ رَبِّهِمْ يُرْزَقُوْنَ
[Do not pay heed to these things, O Prophet!] and whoever have been slain [during this war] for the cause of God, never regard them as dead. They are not dead; in fact, they are alive in the presence of God; they are being well provided for. (3:169)
In these verses, the term ahyāʾun is used for those who are killed in the path of Allah, meaning they are alive. Here the word ‘alive’ retains its commonly understood meaning, just as we use the word ‘life’ in everyday language. Therefore, it would be incorrect to imply from these verses that ‘life’ carries two distinct meanings: one as life and another as the absence of life. The distinction between ordinary life and the life of a martyr does not lie in the question of being alive or not. Instead, it pertains to the nature and quality of life as perceived through our understanding and observation. One form of life is accessible to some extent to human comprehension, while the other transcends our capacity to fully grasp or fathom its reality.
The established method of language expression is such that sometimes; while remaining firm in their used meanings, it conveys additional meanings to simplify the word for a reader. In this case, their apparent meaning is the same well-known one, but the implied meaning can be metaphorical.
Please review the following two couplets by Allama Iqbal as an example:
جس میں نہ ہو انقلاب، موت ہے وہ زندگی
روحِ اُمم کی حیات کشمکش انقلاب
چمن زارِ محبت میں خموشی موت ہے بلبل
یہاں کی زندگی پابندیِ رسم فغاں تک ہے
Where there is no revolution, that life is death,
The life of nations’ spirits lies in the struggle of revolution.
In the garden of love, silence is death to the nightingale,
The life here is bound to the tradition of complaint.
In the first couplet, Iqbal equates a life without revolution to death, while in the second couplet, he equates silence to death. Therefore, it would be incorrect to infer that death has one meaning as silence and another as a life devoid of revolution. Every literary critic understands that, in this context, death is used in its conventional sense. However, the poet has metaphorically compared the stillness of inaction and rigidity to death, emphasizing the lifelessness inherent in such states.
From this detail, it is clear that when the agent of tawaffā is Allah and the subject is a human being, it implies the taking of life, and this applies to two different states - death and sleep.
The question arises: sleep and death are two distinct states—one allows life to continue, while the other marks its end. In this context, how can it be determined whether the phrase tawaffā Allāh nafsu-hu ("Allah took his soul") refers to death or sleep? The answer lies in the context and indicators within the text.
The determination of whether a word in a sentence is used literally, metaphorically, or technically depends on the evidence provided in the sentence itself. Similarly, when a speaker chooses between different meanings of a word, the choice is clarified by indicators within the speech. These indicators—whether explicit or implied—exist within the sentence or its broader context, ensuring that the intended meaning is clear. As a result, the reader can easily discern the speaker's intention without ambiguity.
The indicators in the aforementioned verses of Surah Az-Zumar and Surah Al-An‘am, which have specifically associated the action tawaffā with sleep, are the phrases fi manamiha (in their sleep) and bil-layl (at night). Apart from these, the context and the style of the sentence also suggest that no other meaning except sleep can be accepted here.