this world.

Angels’ promptings to noble deeds

Every good and noble deed is the result of the promptings of the angel. The Holy Qur’ān speaks of the angel and the devil as leading man to two different courses of life: the former, as shown above, to a good and noble life aiming at the development of the human faculties, and the latter, as will be shown later, to a base and wicked life tending to the deadening of those faculties. Every man is said to have two associates, an associate angel and an associate devil. The first is called a ‘witness’ (shahīd), and the second a ‘driver’ (sā’iq): “And every soul comes, with it a driver and a witness. Thou wert indeed heedless of this, but now We have removed from thee thy veil, so that thy sight is sharp this day” (50:21, 22). The driver is the devil who makes evil suggestions and leads man to a state of degradation, and the witness is the angel who helps man on to a good and noble end. Man is said to be heedless of it here, there being a veil over his eyes, so that he cannot see to what condition he is being led, but he will see the result clearly on the Day of Judgment. In Ḥadīth we are told that every man has an associate angel and an associate devil. Thus Muslim reports from Ibn Mas‘ūd: “The Holy Prophet said, There is not one among you but there is appointed over him his associate from among the jinn and his associate from among the angels. The Companions said, And what about thee, Prophet of Allāh? He said, The same is the case with me, but Allāh has helped me over him (i.e., the associate jinn) so he has submitted and does not command me aught but good”.17 According to another ḥadīth, the Holy Prophet is reported to have said: “There are suggestions which the devil makes to the son of man, and suggestions which the angel makes. The devil’s suggestion is for evil and giving the lie to the truth, and the angel’s suggestion is for good and the acceptance of truth”.18

Angels recording deeds of men

Another spiritual function of the angels, on which special stress is laid in the Holy Qur’ān, is the recording of the good and evil deeds of man. These angels are called ‘honourable recorders’ (kirām-an kātibīn), the words being taken from the verse of the Holy Qur’ān: “And surely