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The question

What is the difference between "encountering" (al-liqa') and "perceiving/realizing" (al-idrak) in His, Exalted be He, saying: "Say, 'Indeed, the Death from which you flee — it will surely encounter you'"?

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Source: FtawySummarized from the full answer at Ftawy · imported Sep 2, 20261 min readAlso available in العربية
The answer

The meaning of the verse: "Say, 'Indeed, the death from which you flee—it will surely meet you. Then you will be returned to the Knower of the unseen and the seen, and He will inform you of what you used to do,'" is that the death you dislike and refuse to wish for will befall you, then you will return to Allah, the Knower of the unseen and the seen, to inform you of your deeds. Both idrak (realization/overtaking) and liqaa' (meeting) mean catching up with and reaching something. Al-Raghib stated that liqaa' is confronting and encountering something, and it is used to describe perception by the senses, sight, and insight. Some scholars have explicitly stated that liqaa' here means idrak. The difference between them is: idrak occurs from behind, whereas liqaa' occurs when a person flees from death only to find it in front of him, as if he is fleeing from death to death. The use of idrak in one place and liqaa' in another clarifies that death will inevitably overtake a person, whether from behind or from the front, and there is no escape from it. Therefore, a person must work for the encounter with death.

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Ftawy
Original fatwa ID
5677
Imported
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Source text, unreviewed
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