Azrael
| עֲזַרְאֵל عزرائيل | |
|---|---|
According to Brendan Cole, this painting of Azrael is linked to a 1892 poem by Delville called "Azraël" (published in his book Les Horizons Hantés) | |
| Angel of Death | |
| Associated religions | Islam |
| Attributes | Archangel; psychopomp; wings; cloak. |
| Associations | Jibrāʾīl, Mīkāʾīl, and Isrāfīl (in Islam) |
| Alternate spellings |
|
| Appearance in text | |
![](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:"L’Allégorie_de_l’Enfer"_or_"Azrael"_(c._1890)_-_Jean_Delville.jpg){kind=link}
Azrael (/ˈæzri.əl, -reɪ-/; Hebrew: עֲזַרְאֵל, romanized: ʿǍzarʾēl, 'God has helped'; Arabic: عزرائيل, romanized: ʿAzrāʾīl or ʿIzrāʾīl) is the canonical angel of death in Islam and appears in the apocryphal text Apocalypse of Peter.
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. 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-mavet (Angel of Death) in Judaism.: 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. In Islam, he is one of the four archangels, and is identified with the Quranic Malʾak al-Mawt (ملك 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".