Musa (a) punched the eye out of the angel of death

Ni’matullah Al-Jaza’iri writes:

وسميته كتاب الأنوار النعمانية في بيان معرفة النشأة الإنسانية راجيا منه سبحانه أن يجيرنا من أحوال البرزخ و الحساب وأن يجعله مقبولا عند أصفيائه أولي الألباب وقد التزمنا أن لا نذكر فيه إلا ما أخذناه عن أرباب العصمة الطاهرين أو ما صح عندنا من كتب الناقلين

“I named it the book Al-Anwar-un-Nu’maniyyah Fi Bayan Ma’rifati n-Nash’ati l-Insaniyyah, hoping that God will grant us protection from the conditions of the grave and the reckoning and He will persuade His chosen ones, who make use of reason, to accept it and we undertook not to mention anything in it except what we took from the infallible (a.) or what is authentic (Sahih) with us in the books of the narrators.” [Al-Anwar-un-Nu’maniyyah, volume 1, page 11]

وأما الكليم عليه السلام فقد كان أكثرهم كراهة للموت كما روي عن الصادق عليه السلام: أن ملك الموت أتى موسى بن عمران فسلم عليه فقال: من أنت؟ فقال: أنا ملك الموت، قال: ما حاجتك؟ فقال له: جئت أقبض روحك، فقال له موسى: من أين تقبض روحي؟ قال: من لسانك قال له موسى: كيف وقد كلمت به ربي عز وجل؟ قال: من يديك فقال له موسى: كيف وقد حملت بهما التوراة؟ فقال: من رجليك، فقال: كيف وقد وطئت بهما طور سيناء؟

“As for Moses (a.), he was the most afraid of death among all, as it is narrated from As-Sadiq (a.). The angel of death appeared to Moses, the son of Amram (a.) and gave him the greeting of peace. Then he said: “Who are you?” The latter said: “I am the angel of death.” Moses (a.) said: “What is your wish?” He said to him: “I have come to take away your spirit.” Moses (a.) said to him: “From where?” He said: “From your tongue.” Moses (a.) said to him: “How so, when I spoke to my Lord through it?” He said: “From your hands.” Moses (a.) said to him: “How so, when I carried the Torah with both of them?” He said: “From your feet.” Moses (a.) said: “Like that, when I ascended Mount Sinai with them.” 

قال: وعد أشياء غير هذا، قال: فقال له ملك الموت: فإني أمرت أن أتركك حتى تكون أنت الذي تريد ذلك، فمكث موسى عليه السلام ما شاء الله، ثم مر برجل وهو يحفر قبرا، فقال له موسى عليه السلام: ألا أعينك على حفر هذا القبر؟ فقال له الرجل: بلى، قال: فأعانه حتى حفر القبر، ولحد اللحد، فأراد الرجل أن يضطجع في اللحد لينظر كيف هو فقال له موسى: أنا أضطجع فيه، فاضطجع موسى فارى مكانه من الجنة أو قال: منزله من الجنة فقال: يا رب اقبضني إليك

Hereupon he enumerated other things than these, whereupon the angel of death said to him: “I received the order to leave you alone until you are the one who wishes it.”After this, Moses (a.) remained alive as long as God willed. After that, Moses (a.) passed by someone who was digging a grave. Moses (a.) said to him: “Shall I not help you dig this grave?” The man said to him: “Yes, I do.” Thereupon Moses (a.) helped him until the grave and the earth pit were dug. Hereupon the man wanted to lie down in the earth pit to see what it was like. Then Moses (a.) said to him: “I will lie down in it.” Thereupon Moses (a.) laid down in it and saw his place in Paradise. Then Moses (a.) said: “O Lord, take me to Yourself.”

 فقبض ملك الموت روحه، ودفنه في القبر، وسوى عليه التراب، قال: وكان الذي يحفر القبر ملك الموت في صورة آدمي، فلذلك لا يعرف قبر موسى عليه السلام وفي حديث آخر: أن موسى عليه السلام لما جاءه ملك الموت ليقبض روحه لطمه فأعوره فقال: رب إنك أرسلتني إلى عبد لا يحب الموت فأوحى الله إليه أن ضع يدك على متن ثور ولك بكل شعرة وارتها يدك سنة فقال: ثم ماذا؟ قال: الموت فقال: انته إلى أمر ربك

Thereupon the angel of death took his spirit and placed him in the grave and leveled the ground upon him and the one who dug the grave, the angel of death was in a human body and that is why the grave of Moses (a.) is unknown and in another tradition it says that when the angel of death appeared to Moses (a.), he hit him in such a way that he made him lose an eye. Then the angel of death said: “O Lord, You have sent me to a servant to whom death is not dear.” God then revealed to him: “Put your hand on the back of a bull. For every hair that your hand covers, you shall receive a year.” Moses (a.) said: “What comes after that?” He said: “Death.” Moses (a.) said: “Carry out the command of your Lord.”[Al-Anwar-un-Nu’maniyyah, volume 4, page 147 – 148]