Azrael

Azrael
עֲזַרְאֵל
عزرائيل
A welcoming depiction of the Archangel of Death (usually associated with Azrael), by Evelyn De Morgan, 1881[1]
Angel of Death
Associated religionsIslam and Judaism
AttributesArchangel; psychopomp; wings; cloak.
AssociationsJibrāʾīl, Mīkāʾīl, and Isrāfīl (in Islam)
Alternate spellings
  • ʿĂzarʾēl
  • ʿAzrāʾīl
  • ʿIzrāʾīl
  • Ajrā-īl
  • Ezrā’ël
Appearance in text

Azrael (/ˈæzri.əl, -r-/; Hebrew: עֲזַרְאֵל, romanizedʿǍzarʾēl, 'God has helped';[2] Arabic: عزرائيل, romanizedʿAzrāʾīl or ʿIzrāʾīl) is the angel of death in some Abrahamic religions, namely Islam and Christian popular culture.[3]

Relative to similar concepts of such beings, Azrael holds a benevolent role as God's angel of death; he acts as a psychopomp, responsible for transporting the souls of the deceased after their death.[4] In Islam, he is said to hold a scroll concerning the fate of mortals, recording and erasing their names at their birth and death, similar to the role of the Malakh ha-Maveth (Angel of Death) in Judaism.[5][6]: 234 

Depending on the perspective and precepts of the various religions in which he is a figure, he may also be portrayed as a resident of the Third Heaven, a division of heaven in Judaism and Islam.[7] In Islam, he is one of the four archangels, and is identified with the Quranic Malʾak al-Mawt (ملاك الموت, 'angel of death'), which corresponds with the Hebrew term Malʾakh ha-Maweth (מלאך המוות) in Rabbinic literature. In Hebrew, Azrael translates to "Angel of God" or "Help from God".[7]

  1. ^ Smith, Elise Lawton. 2002. Evelyn Pickering De Morgan and the Allegorical Body. Fairleigh Dickinson University Press. ISBN 9780838638835. p. 153–54.
  2. ^ "Strong's Hebrew Concordance - 5832. Azarel".
  3. ^ "Azrael". Encyclopædia Britannica. [1998] 2020.
  4. ^ Davidson, Gustav. 1968. "Longfellow's Angels". Prairie Schooner 42(3):235–43. JSTOR 40630837.
  5. ^ Hastings, James; Selbie, John A. (2003), Encyclopedia of Religion and Ethics Part 3, Kessinger Publishing, p. 617, ISBN 0-7661-3671-X
  6. ^ Hamilton, Michelle M. 2014. Beyond Faith: Belief, Morality and Memory in a Fifteenth-Century Judeo-Iberian Manuscript. Leiden: Brill. ISBN 9789004282735.
  7. ^ a b Davidson, Gustav. [1967] 1971. "A § Azrael". Pp. 64–65 in A Dictionary of Angels, Including the Fallen Angels. New York: Free Press. ISBN 9780029070505.

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