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qul yā-ʾayyuhā lladhīna hādū ʾin zaʿamtum ʾannakum ʾawliyāʾu li-llāhi min dūni n-nāsi fa-tamannawu l-mawta ʾin kuntum ṣādiqīna
Say, ‘O Jews! If you claim that you are Allah’s favourites, to the exclusion of other people, then long for death, should you be truthful.’
— Ali Quli Qarai
Surah al-Jum’a - Verses 6-8
The Jews regarded themselves as the chosen nation and expected preferential treatment. They even claimed to be the sons of God and at times considered themselves as His intimate friends, as it is reflected the Holy Qur’an20:
Treating of such unfounded ambitions entertained by those to whom the Scripture had been sent though they failed to act upon it, the Holy Qur’an is asking the Noble Prophet (S) to say unto them that if they imagined to be God's friends and different from other people and they were true in their claims, then they could yearn for death, since friends yearn for meeting their friends. We know that the spiritual meeting with God Almighty will happen on the Day of Resurrection when the mundane veils will be cast and the dust of concupiscent desires subside.
Then, man may see the beauteous countenance of the beloved and set foot in His proximity and find his way into the Friend's Confines. If they are true in their claims to be His intimate friend, why are they immersed in the mundane life and are fearful of death. Entertaining such fear reflects that their claims are unfounded. The blessed Verse 7 makes a reference to the main cause of their fear of death, saying that because of what they have already done, they never yearn for death. However, God Almighty is All-Aware of the wrong-doers. The point is that man fears death because of two reasons.
Firstly, he does not believe in the Hereafter and regards death as a monster of non-existence and the shadows of perdition. In such case, it would be natural to fear death and flee from non-existence. Secondly, one may believe in the Hereafter, but he is fearful to attend the Great Tribunal on the Day of Resurrection because of the evil deeds committed in this world. Since the Jews believed in the Day of Resurrection and the hereafter, they were afraid of death owing to their evil deeds.
The Arabic plural noun
covers a broad semantic range encompassing all the evil deeds committed by the Jews ranging from slaying the eminent Prophets sent by God Almighty for their guidance to their accusations, transgression of bounds and rights, plundering people's possessions, and all ethical corruptions. The blessed Verse 8 is saying that entertaining such anxiety and fear may not solve any problems, since death is in store for all human beings. Thus, the Holy Qur’an says:
The law of death is one of the most general and all-encompassing laws of this world. The eminent Prophets and the Archangels all die and nothing shall remain but the Pure Divine Essence, as it is reflected in the Holy Qur’an21:
Death, attending the Divine Just Tribunal and taking care of the records of the past deeds are of the certain laws of this world and God Almighty is All-Aware of all His servants' intentions and deeds. Thus, the only way to put an end to such fear is to purify ones heart from sinful impurities and refraining from committing evil deeds. One whose record is clean will not fear of the audition of his records. Thus, Imam ‘Ali (as) says:
"By Allah! The son of Abu Talib [i.e. ‘Ali (as)] loves death more than his mother's breast 22 ”
and when the most wretched Ibn Muljam struck him a blow on his head and thereby split it, he cried:
"By the Lord of the Ka‘ba, I was saved."
He elsewhere says that death is sweeter than honey [particularly for the friends of God Almighty who are virtuous and are close unto Him].
Footnotes