Azrael
In
Muslim belief, Azrael (Whom God Helps) is the angel
of death. He writes your name in his book when you are born
and erases it when you die.
Encyclopedia
of Religion and Ethics (IV:617) credits Azrael with
'70,000 feet and 4,000 wings, while his body is provided
with as many eyes and tongues as there are men in the world.'
And women and children too, one assumes.
In
Jewish tradition Azrael is the embodiment of evil but, as
the angel of death, does God's work.
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He
is not to be confused with Azriel (also known by the name
Mahniel) of the Zohar, one of the chief angels of
destruction. Nor is Azrael to be confused with Azazael,
one of the makkim or destructive forces. This evil
angel taught human beings how to bring the sun and the moon
closer to the earth so that they could worship those planets
better. It is said that the ancient Jews sacrificed goats
to him.
The
Midrash Petirat Mosheh seems to advise staying as
far as possible away from Azazael. But, because we all must
die, we cannot avoid Azrael.
